Former American Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe has gone on the record about the cancellation of the long running singing competition. In an interview with Billboard, Lythgoe shares that he feels "it's the right thing to do," using a boxing metaphor to explain himself: “I’m a huge fan of boxing, and it’s like when you’re watching a real heavyweight boxer getting to the end of their career, and all these young whippersnappers are coming up: You’ve got to know when to retire.”

More interestingly, Lythgoe goes onto share that he feels that the hiring of Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler as judges was a smart decision—but having Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj onboard? Not so much.

American Idol judges Mariah Carey, Randy Jackson, Nicki Minaj, and Keith Urban onstage during the American Idol 2013 Finale Results Show on May 16, 2013 in Los Angeles, Calif. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

“Mariah and Nicki was just crazy, and then it really started becoming about the judges and took away from the contestants altogether,” he shared. “I think that was a major failing on the part of casting to have those two together. On their own, either one may have been successful.”

Season 12 of American Idol, which premiered January 16, 2013, featured Minaj and Carey as judges, alongside Keith Urban and Randy Jackson. In October 2012, TMZ obtained a video of Minaj erupting at Carey during Idol auditions in Charlotte, North Carolina, threatening "I'm gonna knock you out," and later, "I told them I'm not fuckin' putting up with her fuckin' highness over there." Carey fired back with a, "Oh why, why do I have a three year old sitting around me? I can’t see my kids, because you decided to act like a little crazy bitch and go all around the stage.”  Minaj later also reportedly threatened later to "knock out" Carey.

The final season of American Idol will air January 2016.