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YIKES! ‘American Idol’ winner says Ryan Seacrest accidentally revealed her win before the big announcement

'American Idol' winner knew she was going to win before announcement because of a goof-up made by host Ryan Seacrest!

Maddie Poppe won Season 16 of ‘American Idol,’ but she says she saw the result before it was officially announced. She credited host Ryan Seacrest, who accidentally revealed the name while holding the result card. After her win, Poppe appeared on 'Live with Kelly and Ryan,' where she revealed the mix-up, shocking Seacrest. “I have to tell you guys something. Ryan, you’re really bad at hiding the card,” she admitted on the show, as reported by Yahoo Entertainment. “There was a moment where I and Caleb looked at each other because we both looked at the card before you said it. I couldn’t help it,” she added. Caleb Lee Hutchinson was her fellow finalist and the Season 16 runner-up.

Seacrest appeared stunned by Poppe’s revelation and couldn’t believe he had unintentionally revealed the result. The host was holding a large golden card with the winner’s name written inside. “I saw the big ‘Maddie Poppe,’ and I was like, well, hopefully it doesn’t say this is the person who’s getting cut,” the ‘American Idol’ champion recalled. Elsewhere in the interview, Seacrest told Poppe that her fellow finalist was happy to be placed in second. “Caleb said at the end he said, after the show went off the air, you know, it's really cool for me to be in second place,” the host revealed. “I said why, and he said because I got to watch Maddie win, and I thought that was the sweetest thing,” he gushed.

 Hutchinson had a heartfelt response to his loss, as he and Poppe were dating at the time. The pair began dating during Hollywood Week and waited until the finale to go public with their relationship. They made their relationship official with a duet medley of ‘What a Wonderful World’ and ‘Over the Rainbow.’ Although the performance was something out of a dream, Poppe confessed that she wished to get a “do-over” of the performance.

Speaking to Yahoo Entertainment, she recalled that they had not settled on which note to take at one point in the song, which turned awkward for Poppe on stage. Unsure of which note Hutchinson would take, Poppe chose to step back vocally. “I went, ‘What a wonderful …,’ and then I just stopped singing. I wish I could redo that part. I felt so awkward,” she recalled. “I looked so awkward when I watched it back. I’m like, ‘Maddie, just hold his hand!’ I was so awkward,” Poppe added. Unfortunately, as of today, the duo is no longer a couple.

Poppe continued making music after the show, but says her career stalled during the pandemic. She was also dropped by her label during that time. She decided to do it all over and started by dyeing her hair black. “I feel like for a while, I just wanted to do what other people wanted me to do,” she told PEOPLE. “I felt that since people voted for my folk/Americana sort of sound on American Idol, that was the sound I was meant to have, because they were the ones that put me here,” she explained.