She announced her departure from American Idol after seven seasons back in February, and now Katy Perry has revealed why she decided to quit the show.
"I'm just trying to make space for other things. It's not like me ending this show means I'm going to go retire on an island, even though that would be fabulous. I'm gonna go to work," Perry, 39, told Entertainment Tonight in an interview published on Tuesday, April 16.
The "Teenage Dream" singer—who announced her surprise exit from the judge's table on an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!—added that this season's finale will be the hardest for her.
"I am always emotional on finale, but gosh when this finale comes, I better just tape the false lashes to my face," she quipped.
There is no denying that Perry's exit from Idol is due, in part, to her wanting to head back to her reign as a pop superstar. She continued to tease the rollout of KP6—sparking rumors of a new album—to ET on Tuesday, noting: "You'll learn more when it's ready to launch."
On Sunday, April 14, Perry gave fans the first glimpse into her new era via Instagram. The Grammy winner's friend held a scroll that read simply, "KP6: Top Secret."
"Should I scroll it down?" she teased, while Perry—who was behind the camera— instructed: "Just put it in the tube, and maybe we'll open it up at some later date."
Fans immediately went wild in the comments section.
"WHERE IS THE LEAD SINGLE KATHERINE HUDSON 🤨," one user asked in all-caps. "Omg announcement is imminent, we are SOOOO READY!!!" exclaimed another. "SHE IS REALLY COMING 😭," cried a third follower.
When Perry first announced her exit from the long-running music competition back in February, she shared her love for the show but noted she had to move forward.
"I love Idol so much," the "Roar" artist told Kimmel at the time. "It's connected me with the heart of America but I feel like I need to feel that pulse to my own beat.
"It's going to be a very exciting year—for all pop star girlies," she teased.
As for her fellow judges' reactions, they were blindsided she announced it on Kimmel.
"It just made me run off the road when I first heard about it. My phone blew up," Lionel Richie told Kimmel later that week.
Richie shared that he and Luke Bryan "didn't know about it," but her decision to exit "makes sense." While Richie has decades and decades of hits under his belt, he pointed out that a younger singer, like Perry, should "take some time and actually be an artist."
Bryan, meanwhile had "heard whispers" that Perry was thinking of leaving—noting her announcement "wasn't like a huge shock"—but thought her reveal on Kimmel may have been an unplanned moment, he told Taste of Country Nights earlier this month.
"I think she kinda just got caught up in the moment with Kimmel and maybe announced that she was done," he shared.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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