It started out as a goof. … Now it's becoming a job," he told his listeners, saying he thought he'd only do it for one season. He added that he struggled with the decision to return to AGT because "I've been working a long time. I really wanted to decide if this was going to take away too much … free time. Did I really still enjoy doing it? Did I have something to say? Is it something I should be involved with still?"
He said wife Beth Stern prodded him to "just make a decision already. She couldn't take it [anymore]."
Stern noted that NBC has been accommodating of his schedule, which has made him feel "very special." He also admitted that in the grand scheme of things, struggling over whether to return to judge a reality show was "silly."
Meanwhile, it's unclear whether his fellow judges -- Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel and Mel B -- will be returning.
Stern said: "I will go back [for] one more season and sit there with the crew: Howie and Heidi and Mel and whoever."
When asked by sidekick Robin Quivers if all three also were returning, Stern said he is "assuming" they are but admitted he didn't know for certain.
"Let's put it this way: When [NBC] asked me if it was conditional, I said … let them all come back," he said.
