More than 33 million fans tuned in for Tuesday night's big "American Idol" premiere, and with "Extra's" Mark McGrath sitting in as a guest judge, you can bet "Extra" has the inside scoop.

For instance, bet you can't guess what Ryan Seacrest revealed about Mark's guest judge relationship with Simon Cowell. "He intimidated Simon a little bit," Ryan confirmed. "There were a couple of breaks where Simon came out and said, 'Mark is very quick. He's very good; he's stealing some of my lines.' He hates that!"

Thankfully for Simon, there won't be a guest judge on part two of the two-night premiere, which airs on Thursday night. But according to Seacrest, a certain long-tongued someone will be getting under Simon's skin very soon. "He was intimidated a bit by Gene Simmons, both professionally and personally," Ryan revealed.

So what does Simon say? Mr. Cowell came to visit Mark on his own turf at "Extra," where everything was peaches, cream and predictions. "A girl will win," Simon insisted. "I'm telling you that there is a blonde girl who can really sing. I saw her when we cut it down from 200 to 40."

And now that Mark's "Idol" run is over, he can give us his first-hand "AI" confessional about the contestant, starting with, fashionista Melissa, who said, "It may appear that I have a lot of money, but you do not have to have a lot of money to look good," and left her audition in tears.

Mark's take? "I thought that we came to a consensus that Melissa couldn't sing, including Melissa, and I thought she took it wellÖ until I saw the show."

So what about tearful Regina, who admitted, "I decided to sell my wedding rings so that I would be able to stay."

"I did the old Kerry flip-flop on Regina," Mark revealed. "I passed on her, then I heard about her story and I was like, 'I'm in.'"

And finally, proud Mary Roach, who responded to Simon's "How do you think you did," with a confident "Not too shabby."

According to Mark, "We were in D.C. I don't know what city Mary was in, but she's probably on her way to being the next William Hung."

So how does Mark rate his experience on the judges' bench? "I don't think any of us will ever be the same. I know I won't."

Well, the same or not, you can catch more "Idol" mayhem Wednesday night on FOX.