The singer-and-actress joined 'American Idol' at the start of the current season and she has grown so close to the other new judge, their fellow panellist Randy Jackson and the show's host Ryan Seacrest, she has come to regard them as family.

She said: ' love it. We are having a great time. Steven, Ryan and Randy are awesome.

't's like having brothers for the first time in my life. They are all very protective of me. We support each other, it's a good unit.'

The 41-year-old star ' who has three-year-old twins Max and Emme with her husband Marc Anthony ' admits she is 'figuring out' motherhood as she goes along and sometimes finds it hard to juggle raising her family with her singing career, work on 'American Idol' and other ventures, including a successful fragrance line.

She added to the Daily Record newspaper: 'When I was on my own without kids, I had no trouble. I worked from day to night. I worked 24/7. Now I am different. I am a working mother now.

'To find the right balance is just very difficult. The babies become the most important thing in my life.

'Everything else has had to take a back seat. I am figuring out as I go along with these two angels of mine. And we are doing just fine.'