Mariah Carey to Guest-Star on the Upcoming Season of 'Empire'

Carey will appear on Empire's October 5 episode

Published on August 8, 2016 02:00 PM

It’s been a long time coming, but Mariah Carey is officially coming to Empire!

After months of speculation, FOX announced on Monday that the musical icon is set to appear on the hit show’s October 5 episode.

Carey, 46, is set to play Kitty, “a mega-superstar who comes to Empire to collaborate with Jamal Lyon (Jussie Smollett) on an explosive new song. When the duet encounters obstacles, Kitty help Jamal dig deep to overcome personal difficulties and reach a musical breakthrough,” according to the press release.

Prior to the announcement, Smollett opened up about the rumors of Carey’s Empire possible appearance.

“She’s just the best,” Smollett, 33, told PEOPLE. “She says ‘darling’ a lot. But I say ‘darling’ too as a joke, so it works perfectly. This friendship works very well.”

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The actor continued: “She’s a good human being and a really sweet lady … don’t get me wrong, she’s a diva. I said, ‘Do you own flats?’ She’s like ‘Darling, no.’ Okay. That’s why she has dope calf muscles. [She has] the greatness of a diva, but [is also] the regular, chill girl that you just want to chill with.”

Taraji P. Henson, who stars as Cookie Lyon on the series, also opened up about working with Carey, telling PEOPLE the singer brings the same vibe to Empire that she brings to the music industry.

“She was great! She’s fabulous, she’s beautiful to look at,” Henson said. “I wish I could wear a leotard like that. She brings a sense of what Mariah brings tot he music industry, she brought it to our show. I’m grateful that she spent time with little ol’ us.

“I look at her like a fairy and she brought her little fairy dust and she spread it all over the set.”

Also set to appear in the new season of Empire will be Taye Diggs, Sierra McClain, French Montana and Birdman.

Season three of Empire premieres Sept. 21 at 9 p.m. ET on FOX.