Minaj - who joined the judging panel this season and has already famously clashed with fellow mentor Mariah Carey - explained that she is worried some of her comments to contestants may have been a little harsh.
© Fox / Michael Becker
"I'm just thinking maybe I shouldn't have really [been so honest]," she told American Idol's host Ryan Seacrest on his KIIS-FM radio show. "It's hard for me to not say how I really feel, let's just put it like that."
Minaj admitted that she is worried she has been too candid, saying: "Because everyone else is so nice! I mean, I don't know. I was just thinking about some things and I was thinking, 'I wonder if that was not nice'.
"It's just weird for me because I feel as an artist I've always grown more from the tougher criticism, and so I would like to be that person and try to help people get a thicker skin and really give it their all, because it is a competition."
Minaj also suggested that it will be "weird" when the show premieres, saying: "I don't think I'm going to be able to watch it because I'm probably going to be so nervous. But I know that people are going to love it.
"I think it's a great dynamic. I think just the chemistry of the judges... I feel it while I'm there. I think it's really different from anything we've seen before on Idol and people are going to like it a lot."
The new season of American Idol will premiere on Wednesday, January 16 between 8 and 10pm, followed by a second hour-long episode on Thursday, January 17 at 8pm.
Idol will air in the UK on 5*.
Watch a promo for the new season of American Idol below:
