Paula Abdul: 'I've Never Had a Drinking Problem'

USMagazine, Monday, January 3, 2011, 6:49am (PST)

Though her demeanor on "American Idol" was often mocked, Paula Abdul wants to set the record straight: she was never intoxicated on live television.

In fact, she claims she's never been drunk at all.

"I've never had a drinking problem, even though I've been in this business for quite some time," Abdul said on CBS News' "Sunday Morning." "I've never physically been drunk in my life. I've never been drunk in my life! I don't use recreational drugs -- but I am goofy."

Though fellow judge Simon Cowell frequently mocked her kooky sense of humor throughout her eight seasons on the show, Abdul insisted that "the people on 'Idol' know that none of that [drug abuse] existed, ever."

When CBS News' Julie Chen tells Abdul that audiences don't give her enough credit for "having a brain," the "Live to Dance" creator, 48, scoffed at the notion.

"I am intelligent. Having a brain, that's a concept, yes, with Paula Abdul," she said. "I have a brain."

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