‘American Idol’ Alum Reveals Intimate Encounter With Paula Abdul During Season 15 Wrap Party

American Idol alum Brian Dunkleman, who fans may remember as Ryan Seacrest‘s co-host on Season 1, recalls the time he and Paula Abdul shared a flirty moment at the Season 15 wrap party. “Paula Abdul kissed me on the lips three times at the afterparty, and I got her number!” he tells Radar Online, before adding that things didn’t go much further after the kiss. “I thought, ‘Do I have a shot?’ She never responded,” he said, laughing.

“I really loved Paula. I really did. We had not seen each other, and it was a friendly kiss. We didn’t make out. Always remember, I’m a comedian!” he continued, clarifying. “She was just so happy to see me. But to me, I mean, listen, I was on my spring break in 1989 when she was a huge star, and then all of a sudden, I’m working with her, and then 20 years later, she’s kissing me!” He added: “She’s such a sweetheart and my God, it’s Paula Abdul, for God’s sake! She still looks amazing.”

Abdul wasn’t the only judge who hit it off with the host. Dunkelman reveals he got along swimmingly with the other judges as well –– including Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson. “I actually really loved all the judges,” he shared. “My biggest regret is probably not getting to know Simon as well as I wanted to. We were kind of supposed to be each other’s foils. That’s how it was presented to me. I was supposed to be the guy that defended the kids [contestants] against this ‘mean’ guy. It was really great, ’cause I would say something funny, and during commercial break, he’d be like, ‘I know I’m supposed to be angry because you’re kind of insulting me, but it’s brilliant! I love it! I wanna see you do stand-up!’ So he was really nice.”

It’s been reported that the reason Dunkleman didn’t stick around on the show after its debut was because he and Seacrest allegedly weren’t too fond of each other. “We didn’t have that many deep conversations. Ryan and I didn’t get along that well, and I talk about that very honestly in my [upcoming] film, [Dunkleman],” he said. “It’s not about bashing Ryan Seacrest, either,” he added. “It’s about providing the viewer with what really happened so that they can make up their own mind.”

He continued: “I have not seen Ryan Seacrest since the last episode of American Idol [on Fox], and I got to genuinely talk to him. I apologized to him for all of the reasons we didn’t get along back then, and I really made my peace,” Brian said, adding, “The actual filming of this performance piece, for me, has been about healing and forgiveness – not just about forgiving other people, but most importantly, forgiving myself.”