Before Keith Urban joined the feuding firestorm on American Idol, Toby Keith was in talks to sit on the judging panel…

The country businessman recently revealed how long it took him to turn down the offer”¦ five seconds!

“It’s a great big TV show,” Toby says. “Lucrative deal. Lot of money, but it’s a lot of time, and it took me five seconds.”

The singer mentions he “knew better” than to get involved.

“I knew three weeks in that I’d be going, “˜I can’t believe I did this. I am so mad at myself,’” he says.

And Toby discloses Idol isn’t the only TV gig he’s said no to.

“I’ve been offered a sitcom over the last 10 years by every major network, and”¦ it ends up being too much time,” he says.

Toby’s sticking with music ““ his new album Hope on the Rocks drops October 30^th.