After Bret Michael’s surprise appearance on the American Idol season finale, fans started speculating that Michaels’ might make an acceptable replacement for judge Simon Cowell who will not return next year.

Michaels, who performed a duet with Idol finalist Casey James on Wednesday’s show, just three days after winning Celebrity Apprentice, told the crowd at his Biloxi, Miss., show Friday night that he was in the running to replace Cowell. “I can’t say this is true yet, ’cause I don’t know. Next year they asked me to possibly be the judge on ‘American Idol,” he said, before beginning the Poison classic ‘Every Rose Has Its Thorn.’

A rep for FOX had no comment.

The announcement came on the heels of an exciting week for Michaels, who was hospitalized in April after suffering a brain hemorrhage. Last Sunday, Bret was on hand to find out he had won the Celebrity Apprentice, earning 250,000 for Diabetes research. Friday’s concert was also his first since he fell ill last month.

Michaels’ reality series, Bret Michaels: Life as We Know It premiered last night at 10PM on VH1.