Heavy/ABC
The “American Idol” cast before Katy Perry’s wardrobe malfunction on April 15, 2024.
During the final performance of the first live show of season 22, “American Idol” judge Katy Perry‘s top nearly fell off her body as she cheered for contestant Roman Collins, who was trying to earn the judges’ vote to advance to the Top 14.
As Collins ended his performance during the show on April 15, 2024, the three judges — Perry, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie — gave him a standing ovation. But cameras caught Perry suddenly grabbing her chest to try to keep her metallic, custom top from slipping and her fellow judges unsure how to help.
When the wardrobe team couldn’t fix it in time for her to speak on camera, Perry slowly kneeled down behind the judges’ table to hide, with only her head peeking out, and later had to hold a pillow in front of herself. The wardrobe malfunction came as no surprise to the pop star though, given that she jokingly prayed about it right before going on stage.
Katy Perry Was Nervous About Her Top Even Before the Live Show Began
Perry modeled her bold fashion statement before the “Idol” episode began, posting photos of herself on Instagram wearing the sculptural, metallic number. She tagged Kate Barton, who designed the top and shared a video in her own Instagram stories of the judges on her TV screen at home.
Barton wrote, “Turned on American Idol to see @KatyPerry in custom Kate Barton” and added a gray heart emoji.
As the show began, a fan account posted video of Perry backstage, walking gingerly to the stage, praying her top would stay in place.
“I pray, dear God, that my top stays on,” she laughed, talking to the camera before she passed by all the contestants backstage. “Are you praying for my top to stay on? Or are you praying against me?”
As the show started, host Ryan Seacrest remarked with surprise at Perry’s wardrobe choice, which featured a pointed edge like a sword.
“Uh, be careful how fast you turn! Is that sharp?” he asked.
“I just want to make sure that these guys stay their distance,” Perry joked, referring to her fellow judges on either side of her, “and that everybody knows that there’s gonna be large cut tonight.”
Katy Perry’s Top Slipped as She Cheered & Luke Bryan Joked It Was For ‘Ratings’
Perry went through the show without issue until the final performance, when Collins sang James Brown’s “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World” in hopes of gaining the judges’ vote to send him through to the Top 14 — which they did.
As cameras showed the cheering audience, with a wide angle of Perry with judges Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie giving a standing ovation behind the judging table, the pop star suddenly grabbed her top. Bryan put his hands up, but clearly did not want to grab Perry’s top. Another camera took a wide shot from behind the judges table, where both men could be seen reacting to her wardrobe malfunction, unsure what to do.
As Seacrest tried to talk to Collins, members of the crew could be seen standing behind Perry, trying to fasten her top.
When Seacrest realized something was happening, he looked confused and said, “Uh, what’s…Katy…don’t cut yourself.”
Holding her top to her chest, Perry bent down to her microphone and deadpanned, “That song broke my top off! I guess it ain’t a woman’s world.”
Bryan joked, “Ratings! Ratings! Ratings! Here we come, ratings!”
By that point, Perry had gotten down on her knees behind the table so that only her head could be seen, and said, “It’s a family show.”
Bryan then grabbed the pillow off her chair and tried to hand it to Perry. He also tried to give Collins some feedback, telling him that every time he performs, “you bring everybody out of their seats, you literally have the ability to blow the roof off of a place.”
“Or a top,” Perry quipped, appearing back in her seat, holding the pillow in front of her chest.
During a short commercial break, the wardrobe team got to work with pliers, as seen in a behind-the-scenes video posted by a fan.
Perry also tweeted a photo of herself holding one of the pairs of pliers and wrote, “my top broke are you watching #idol”
She later posted another photo of her holding the pillow, and wrote, “broke again.”
Whatever the crew did must have worked, because Perry didn’t need to hold her top any longer once the show returned from the ad break.
This isn’t the first time Perry’s experienced a wardrobe slip-up on “Idol.” During Disney night in May 2022, Perry was dressed as Ariel the Little Mermaid and her costume caused her to fall over backwards in her chair.
Liv Lane is an entertainment writer who covers the Hallmark Channel, HGTV, American Idol and The Voice for Heavy. She has three decades of experience as a local and national radio host, columnist and publicist, interviewing and working with a wide range of celebrities over the years, from Deepak Chopra to Lil Nas X. Liv is also an accomplished watercolor artist whose intuitive art is sold across the U.S. and Canada. Liv attended the University of Minnesota and is based in Minneapolis. More about Liv Lane
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