Katy Perry told music star she was 'GLAD' they left American Idol... amid fears for Orlando Bloom relationship
Katy Perry 's tenure on American Idol was under the spotlight after a former contestant–turned–music superstar opened up about their interactions.
According to the rising star, Katy told them she was 'glad' that they left the long-running music competition series when they ran into each other years later.
Katy, 40, first joined the series as a celebrity judge for season 16 in 2018, and stepped down six years later in 2024 after season 22.
It was in early 2021 that her path crossed with the future singing sensation when they competed in season 21.
During an appearance Wednesday on Scott Mills' BBC Radio 2's Breakfast Show, the Grammy Award nominee Benson Boone opened up about catching up with Katy years after he decided to leave American Idol.
He admitted to bumping into the singer — who has been beset by rumors that her relationship with fiancé Orlando Bloom is in trouble — a 'couple months ago' and learned that she seemed to be happy that he had quite the show.
According to the rising star, Katy, 40, told them she was 'glad' that they left the long-running music competition series when they ran into each other years later; seen in 2023 in LA
Boone was asked if he thought Katy believes that she had 'discovered' him on American Idol.
During his stint on the series, she said on camera that he had what it took to win the competition, adding that viewers were 'gonna swoon for Benson Boone.'
'Do you want to know the actual truth?' Benson replied. 'I actually think she is really glad that I left the show.'
After the two had a chance to catch up a recent awards ceremony, the TikTok sensation came away thinking that Katy was 'really happy' for him.
However, he also thought she was 'really worried' for his future.
'I think she understands that when you're starting to go through all of this, like, there's just a lot of hate coming your way, a lot of people that want things from you, so she was more just checking in on me,' he explained.
Though Katy was widely mocked for her recent Blue Origin space flight, Benson declared that she 'actually really is a lovely person.'
'She told me, she was like, "Leaving that show was, like, the best thing you ever did." I think she just understands, like, I didn't even know if I wanted to do music at that time.'
Despite his misgivings as American Idol was poised to make him a star, Boone later found his way back to music on his own terms.
He had already established himself as a popular TikTok performer and singer before auditioning for the series, but the baby-faced performer — who didn't yet have his instantly recognizable mustache — blew away Katy and fellow judges Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan at his audition, where he also showed that he could play passable piano.
After Benson admitted that he wasn't a singer growing up, Lionel declared him a 'natural talent,' and Luke urged him to 'have fun' with his voice now that he had discovered it.
Katy dramatically added, 'I'm gonna tell you something that you may not believe, but if you believe it it might happen. I see American Idol, and I see you, and I see you winning American Idol... if you want to.'
An awe-struck Benson said that was the 'biggest compliment' he had ever received.
He was invited to continue on to Hollywood Week, a round of multiple performances that helps weed out the large group of singers who had survived the initial auditions.
But shortly after he was selected as part of the final 24 contestants, Benson opted to end his run on American Idol, which led the series to not broadcast his Hollywood Week performances.
But Benson wasn't done with the music industry, and months later Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds signed him to his label Night Street Records via a deal with Warner Records.
His first single, Ghost Town, just barely scraped the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart with a peak at number 100, but the song had longevity after gaining exposure on TikTok, and it later was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
His 2022 single, In The Stars, did even better. It only topped out at 82 on the Hot 100, but it went on to be certified 2x Platinum.
Benson's career seemed to floundering after multiple singles in 2022 and 2023 that failed to chart, but he came roaring back last year with his biggest success to date, the single Beautiful Things.
The song was buoyed by its omnipresent status on TikTok and Instagram, and it reached number two on the Hot 100 and was certified 5x Platinum.
Since then, he has had multiple top 40 hits, including last year's Slow It Down and this year's songs Sorry I'm Here For Someone Else and Mystical Magical.
Benson looked back on his auspicious first encountering with Katy just as she has been inundated with fan fears for the state of her relationship with her fiancé Orlando Bloom.
Yesterday, the 48-year-old Lord Of The Rings star was reported by TMZ to be attending Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez's wedding in Italy without Katy by his side.
But the absence turned out to be because Katy had a prior commitment, as she is touring in Australia at the moment.
Katy's widely mocked space flight, the critical revulsion her album 143 earned and the poor reviews her ongoing tour have received have all reportedly added to the strain in her relationship with Orlando; seen with Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez in 2023 in Dubrovnik, Croatia
Still, the couple have been apart for much of the past month, raising concerns of a potential split.
A source previously told People magazine that 'They're pretty much done,' while an insider alleged to Page Six that 'It's over' and the two are 'just waiting until the tour is done before they split.'
A friend of the couple exclusively told DailyMail.com that the couple are 'are on the rocks' this week.
Perry and Bloom first met in January 2016. They had a brief breakup in 2017, but later reconciled by March 2018.
The pair got engaged on Valentine's Day in 2019 and welcomed their daughter, Daisy, in August 2020.
Bloom also has a 13-year-old son named Flynn with his ex-wife, Miranda Kerr, 42.
Katy's widely mocked space flight, the critical revulsion her album 143 earned and the poor reviews her ongoing tour have received have all reportedly added to the strain in her relationship with Orlando.
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Then she saw the band Palberta – a playful indie-rock trio whose members traded instruments every few songs – and felt inspired by the messy, uncomplicated style of playing the three women shared. 'They were doing something that sounded awesome and very easy,' she says. 'After that show, I bought my friend's guitar off him.' Hartzman's earliest recordings were solo; she got a formal band together only when her sister asked her to perform at her birthday party. From there, Wednesday rotated through a few members before settling into a stable lineup: Xandy Chelmis on steel guitar, Ethan Baechtold on bass and piano, Alan Miller on drums and MJ Lenderman on guitar. They started playing house shows and tiny spots with friends' bands and folks they met in local DIY scenes. Wednesday's shows could be raucous, rowdy affairs, but their home lives centred around the quietude of Haw Creek, surrounded by streams and open fields – the kind of place where they could go fishing in the morning, then practice in the living room later on. 'We lived on acres of land,' she says. 'Nothing will ever beat that.' Hartzman lived at Haw Creek with Lenderman who, alongside his work in Wednesday, found meteoric success last year for his fourth solo album, Manning Fireworks. He and Hartzman started dating before Lenderman joined Wednesday – Hartzman was a fan of his music, playing it over the speakers at the coffee shop where she worked before they met. After six years together, they broke up amicably in 2024. Hartzman chalks it up to the usual big-picture differences that emerge in adulthood. In your early 20s, she says: 'You're just like: 'Oh, I like this person, I'll date them.' But then, when you're 28, you have to be like: 'Does this person have the same intentions in life?'' Hartzman was interested in marriage and kids; Lenderman was not quite on the same page, she says. But, from the beginning, 'I've known, even if we're not romantic for ever, we're creative collaborators for ever'. Lenderman will be on future records; while he won't perform on their next tour, Hartzman insists it's nothing personal; between Wednesday and his solo career, his touring schedule has been relentless and 'he needs a break'. The songs on Bleeds were written before the breakup, although some of them hint at the deteriorating relationship. The Way Love Goes started as an apology for not being fully present. 'When I wrote it, I was like: 'But I'm gonna fight for this,'' she says. 'Of course, by the time we recorded it, that was not the situation.' Wasp, meanwhile, describes the bitter self-recrimination she felt towards the relationship's end. 'My body just kind of gave up on me,' she says. 'I was really dissociated because I didn't want to break up, but I was having to accept that we needed to.' Bleeds is haunted by images of loss and violence: a washed-up body, a livestreamed funeral, a car crash, a knife fight. Hartzman doesn't see it necessarily as a dark record; she sees it as chasing good stories and telling the truth. 'Death is around at every point,' she says. 'If you don't acknowledge that, you're lying.' She is drawn to mixing the cartoonish and the creepy: 'I think that's just a southern gothic attitude,' she says, describing her taste as 'a little bit scary, but there's a heart of gold underneath'. Much of Hartzman's songwriting draws on her memories of youthful debauchery, like sneaking out late then teaching Sunday school. She is also a keen collector of stories, keeping an eye out for strange characters and unbelievable happenings. 'If someone has a story where they're, like: 'Oh my God, this was so embarrassing,' or: 'This is kind of a secret,'' her ears prick up. (She always asks for permission and changes names and identifying details to protect the innocent.) From Bleeds, the drowning victim on Wound Up Here (By Holdin' On) comes from a friend's story from his days as a rafting guide in West Virginia; Carolina Murder Suicide was inspired by a true-crime podcast. But Hartzman's songs still feel intimate, told in first person through a singular lens, treating their subjects with compassion. Rat Saw God took the band to new heights, landing on many publications' year-end lists. But as she looks towards the release of Bleeds, Hartzman is committed to keeping her personal life steady. It helps that while 'the shows have changed a lot' – getting bigger and bigger – 'my life at home has been so consistent'. This year, she ditched her smartphone, got off social media and built herself a charmingly retro, Y2K-style personal website. The apps were zapping her focus; then, a profile of Lenderman was published with details of their breakup. 'People were putting their own two cents on that shit,' she says with an eye roll. 'I was like: oh, it would feel so good to get off that.' She has changed how she listens to music, too, jettisoning the algorithm to favour recommendations from friends and blogs. 'It's been so rewarding.' On her site, she shares monthly journal entries and roundups of the music and media she is enjoying. She answers reader-submitted questions about everything from learning guitar to her relationship with religion. She also has a PO box where listeners can send letters; she replies to as many as she can. It's important for her to be in touch with the people who love her music, she says, and she wants to give them something special. But this method represents, for her, a 'closeness on my own terms' – a way of preventing the always-on burnout faced by many musicians on the rise. Her ability to tune out industry pressure surprises even those closest to her. Lenderman 'is always wondering: 'How do you not feel that kind of pressure of expectation?'' she says. 'But my need to write is so important to me, more than any reception.' As well as making her own merch from customised thrift store T-shirts, in her precious downtime, Hartzman has been writing and spending time with local friends – they are fond of a laundromat-cum-bar called Suds & Duds. She has never lived outside North Carolina – and doesn't plan to. 'I love it,' she says. 'It feels like home to me. And that feeling is addicting.' Folks here know her face because they watched her grow up, or grew up alongside her, not because her band recently played The Late Show (although she did get recognised recently by a Wednesday listener at her grandmother's retirement home). Most of what happens in her songs 'could happen anywhere', she says. 'I'm not trying to say, necessarily, that I had a different upbringing or lifestyle than most teenagers.' But she is telling her story truthfully – 'and, in reality, it happened here'. Hartzman understands why other artists might move to a major city to find artistic success, but she is glad to be rooted in such a distinctive place. 'I don't like the feeling of: 'I'm in the cultural centre of the universe and what I do here will pervade the rest of culture,'' she says with a shrug. 'I like the idea of coming in from the edge.' Bleeds is released via Dead Oceans on 19 September
