Tags; Les and Jane Dunkleman were the proud parents of nine children….and then Brian was born. Due to a desire to have his parents one day address him by the correct name, Brian started doing stand up comedy in 1992. That year he won the “Buffalo’s Funniest New Comedian Contest”. Granted, the contest was voted on by the audience and he brought 50 people with him, but that’s not important….the point is, he never looked back. Since then, he’s performed at HBO’s US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, on the “Tonight Show”, NBC’s “Late Friday”, and TBS’s ”Very Funny at the Laugh Factory”. He has had acting roles on several hit television shows such as “FRIENDS”, “3RD ROCK FROM the SUN”, “THAT 70’s SHOW”, “GHOST WHISPERER”, “NYPD BLUE”, and “LAS VEGAS”. He was the voice of SANFORD on the MTV animated series “3 SOUTH”, as well as characters on “FAMILY GUY” and “PROUD FAMILY”. He hosted the first season of “AMERICAN IDOL”, and knowing full well the show would never last, decided to continue to pursue his dream of breaking the record for pilots that never make the air. He recently finished acting in his first feature film “Comedy Hell” with Eric Roberts. Brian can currently be seen on the VH1 show "Celebrity Fit Club". He can also be seen doing stand up regularly in Los Angeles at the Laugh Factory and Improv, as well as comedy clubs all over the country. He is also a regular host of “Family Feud Live” in Atlantic City for Fremantle Media. Brian is currently working on raising his profile enough so he can be on the next season of “DANCING WITH THE STARS”.Although his lack of television interviews since he left American Idol probably had more to do with a lack of interest from television producers than a self-imposed vow of silence, former Idol Brian Dunkleman has finally done a television interview in which he "broke his silence" about why he "walked away" from the smash-hit reality show after its first season. Did you catch the gasp of excitement on "American Idol" when Ryan Seacrest said his former co-host Brian Dunkleman would be hosting part of "Idol Gives Back"?

Yeah, well, Seacrest was lying. And kicking Dunkleman, who's not been seen on "Idol" since 2002, when he's down. In fact, Queen Latifah will be hosting the portion of "Idol Gives Back" that Seacrest mentioned during Tuesday's (April 13) broadcast.

But really, would it be such a bad thing to bring Dunkleman -- who's lately been seen on "Celebrity Fit Club" and playing himself on the final season of "My Name Is Earl" -- back into the fold for a night? From the comfort of the couch, it sounded like the studio audience was actively disappointed that Seacrest was making a joke at his ex-colleague's expense.

If you think about it, it would in fact be perfect. "American Idol" loves nothing more than a good comeback story, or, if you're inclined to look at things with a jaundiced eye, having Dunkleman on "Idol Gives Back" could be the show doling out its own form of charity. Maybe it would even help get "American Dunkleman" off the ground.

So what say you, America? Should "American Idol" give Dunkleman another shot?