The new American Idol won more than just a recording contractâshe won love!
Maddie Poppe claimed the title of the newest Idol this week on ABC, but just 15 minutes before the champion was announced, runner-up Caleb Lee Hutchinson announced he and Maddie had begun dating.
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Maddie tells Yahoo why she and her country beau waited so long to announce their relationship.
âWe didnât really want people to think that we werenât focused on the show, and also [fellow contestants] Cade [Foehner] and Gabby [Barrett] had just kind of announced that they were dating, and so we didnât want to take away their thunder, you know,â Maddie says. âCaleb and I kind of joked, when people would ask about us, that we were cousins!â
The new Idol adds she and Caleb also decided to remain mum on their relationship, which began âaround the Top 24 week,â because they had ânoticed that there were some other couples who had gotten split up along the way.â
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But the news is out now! Caleb took to Twitter after the Idol finale to congratulation his girlfriend on her win, which includes a recording contract with Hollywood Records.
American Idol returns for Season 2 on ABC in 2019.
Photo: Getty Images