Constantine Maroulis Clears Up ‘American Idol’ Drama, Reveals Sobriety
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American Idol Season 4 contestant Constantine Maroulis is speaking out about his time on the show, and he wants to clear up some recent comments he made about his elimination and that season’s winner Carrie Underwood.
Congratulations are also in order, because Maroulis recently revealed that he’s 20 months sober, and he’s been spending the past two years working on himself.
Constantine Maroulis Clears Up ‘American Idol’ Comments
In a recent interview on David Yontef’s podcast Behind the Velvet Rope, Maroulis talked about his experience on American Idol. The singer came in sixth place, and his elimination shocked some viewers who thought he would make it further.
The Sun reported on Maroulis’ speculation that his elimination was rigged in order to draw attention away from judge Paula Abdul’s rumored affair with former contestant Corey Clark. However, what the outlet failed to mention is that Maroulis sees his elimination as a blessing.
On Twitter, Maroulis encouraged fans to listen to the interview, in which he says “there was no beating Carrie Underwood.” He adds that it “worked out better for me to kind of be the underdog, and fall off a little earlier.” Maroulis also said of his alleged “smokescreen” elimination, “That’s what I would have done.”
“I think that was just good television on their part,” Maroulis said. “I don’t think people were getting more votes than me, outside of Carrie. I can’t imagine I was getting fewer votes than some of the people that ended up finishing ahead of me.”
SEE ALSO: ‘AMERICAN IDOL’ STARS DAVID COOK, DAVID ARCHULETA REUNITE WITH ADORABLE SELFIE
Maroulis Announces He’s 20 Months Sober
The 45-year-old also recently revealed to OK! magazine that he’s been clean and sober for 20 months now. He’s been “working on myself” in both his personal and professional life, releasing a new album called Until I’m Wanted last year.
“It started off like, I’m just gonna put this pen down, the vape, the drinks and just chill, and then it was a few months, and then it was six months, then it was a year, then it was now almost two years,” Maroulis told the publication.
Maroulis said he’d had a “rough summer” the year before the pandemic hit, as he was having trouble landing projects and it was “having a really negative effect.” Last year, his friend and Broadway co-star Nick Cordero sadly passed away from COVID-19 complications.
The singer told OK! that he’s he’s “so glad” he recognized his problem early, since the pandemic and Cordero’s death “could have been ugly” for him if he hadn’t gotten sober.
