Wyatt Pike has revealed the reason for his departure from Season 18 of American Idol.
The former American Idol contestant abruptly withdrew from the show just before the Top 12 was revealed, which he would’ve been a part of. Following his departure from the popular singing competition show, rumors swirled that Pike had a fight with Idol judge, Luke Bryan, however, this was not true.
According to E! News, the rumor that swirled online was that Pike got into an actual fist fight with Bryan, causing the “UP” singer to have a black eye, which ultimately led to Bryan’s absence from Idol on Monday, April 12, 2021. However, That was not the case as Bryan was actually just resting as he was diagnosed with COVID at the time. Paula Abdul filled in for Bryan that evening, but he returned to the show the very next episode.
Bryan’s wife, Caroline, took to social media to quickly set the record straight and debunk the rumors online at the time.
“Trust me, he has covid,” Bryan’s wife wrote on TikTok. “I kinda wish there was a fight. I’m sick of taking care of kids alone and sanitizing. I’m peeing Lysol!”
Then, a few days later in April of 2021, Pike broke his silence on Instagram, sharing that he left Idol due to personal reasons.
“I had to leave the @AmericanIdol competition for personal reasons but am so thankful I get to play music for the rest of my life,” Pike wrote on Instagram. “Fellow contestants – miss you all, good luck! Thank you to everyone for your support… do stick around for more musical things soon!”
Now, In early 2022, while chatting with KPCW about his just-released new song “Deep Blue,” Pike officially revealed the actual reason for his departure from the show.
“Regarding my departure, the bottom line is that reality, competitive music on TV is not my thing. It became too much. The stress and the behind-the-scenes pressure and things that had to happen,” Pike explained.
“Coming off of that show, it’s kind of a… how am I going to almost reintroduce myself musically off of the show,” Pike continued to tell the outlet. “Because obviously there’s an understanding of who I am on the show, but that maybe doesn’t completely represent who I want to be and who I want to become.”
Pike’s just-released new song, “Deep Blue,” was co-written by fellow Idol alum, Francisco Martin. The Idol alums wrote the song one night in Los Angeles when they had dinner and penned a few songs together. The song marks the first song that Pike has ever written with someone else as he usually pens his tracks by himself.
The track was released independently alongside Peter Hanaman, an assistant engineer at The Village Studios, a studio known for working with Snoop Dogg, Tom Petty and more.
The music video for the song drops tomorrow at 3PM PST.
