During season 12 of "American Idol," longtime fans and new contestants witnessed a surprise riff between two of pop cultures hottest divas-- Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj. Unfortunately, two other members of the staff had to sit at the judges table with them, as they had annoying spats on national TV. Now, one of them is finally speaking out.

Randy Jackson is truely an "American Idol" staple. Throughout his 12 seasons as a judge (now he acts as a mentor), he witnessed every part of the shows' process. When Simon Cowell asked the record producer to join in 2002, he probably had no idea that his longtime friend Mariah Carey would join him almost 10 years later. But she did and told Hot 97 last year that, "Honestly, [she] hated it."

Most of the judges, including Keith Urban, have stopped talking about the various shade-throwing showdowns that occured in front of its' huge national audience, but Jackson decided to share his feelings with the one woman who can get anything out of anyone-- Oprah Winfrey.

In the newest episode of her show, "Where Are They Now?", he revealed that it was extremely difficult to work on set because of he and Mariah's friendship. He also admitted that it "wasn't quite the panel we thought it was going to be."

Looks like he is on Team Mariah with this one, and now that she is no longer managed by Jermaine Dupri, maybe the two will work together again.

Watch the first look of their interview, below and check out the full episode, with Danielle Staub on OWN this Sunday, Aug. 10.

Tags
Oprah winfrey, Randy Jackson, American Idol