When E! News caught up with host extraordinaire Cat Deeley at Fox's Television Critics Association 2016 summer press tour, she told us that she, too, was skeptical that this season would feature kids. "It definitely is different. I'm actually really enjoying it in a way I never, ever, ever thought I would," she confessed.

She continued, "I was literally like, ‘This isn't going to work! A, they're not going to be good enough, and B, they're going to be so precocious and dreadful and awful that I'm going to want to kick them in the shins on a regular basis.' And I was wrong on both accounts."

Deeley, who is mom to son Milo, born in January, said she was incredibly impressed with every single one of the show's young competitors. "They're blow-your-mind amazing—equally on par with the All-Stars," she told us.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7prvNpaCnnV6YvK57zZ6urGdnboFxf5JoqqhlqaTCbsDHoqWkZamkwm6vwKdknZmemLJuwMeeZKedqKl6qLHNnqmarJmku26v0aiup6tdlnq4tc2nnKs%3D