Catie Turner’s rise to fame was unlike that of most musicians, although it’s not a story unfamiliar to viewers of singing competition television: She was a contestant on the 16th season of American Idol in 2018. She was actually one of the final few hopefuls eliminated from the show that year. Turner has since forged a nice career for herself, most notably marked so far by her 2021 album Heartbroken And Milking It, her first on Atlantic Records.
Before that, though, she got to travel and perform as part of an American Idol tour, which yielded an embarrassing moment she laughingly looks back on now for “Stories From The Road,” a video series presented by Songkick and NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration).
Describing a run-in in she had with a previous American Idol champion, Turner says, “Kris Allen was on that tour and obviously, he’s a good-looking dude and I was like, ‘Oh, do you have muscles’ or something, and then Michael [J. Woodard] was like, ‘Just say you want to see him without his shirt on!’ I was mortified! I was mortified. And I’m still mad at him for that because… what am I going to say to that?”
Elsewhere in the video, she discusses her dream venues to perform in, texting with a Zayn Malik imposter, and more, so check it out above.
Catie Turner is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.