Maddie Poppe Was Actually Scared To Win 'American Idol'

Maddie Poppe steps out in a floral blue dress for the 2018 Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series Awards held at Wynn Resort in Las Vegas on Thursday night (November 29).

The 20-year-old singer just recently confessed that she was kind of scared of winning American Idol this past year.

“I was so scared [to win Idol], you know, because you got signed to Hollywood and my idea of Hollywood at that time was like … they were with Demi and Miley and Selena,” she told Billboard. “You know, the music that those girls make is awesome, but it’s not what I wanna make.”

Maddie continued, “I was really worried that if I were to be signed with these people, they were gonna want me to be pop. And I was worried about what kind of freedom I would have. Because you hear all these stories all the time about people — you know, people like Kesha, saying things happen that she was forced to do.”

However, she was happy to see that her fears were never realized.

“I can say [now] I’m so happy I won, because it has been nothing like I had thought it might be,” Maddie adds. “It is so awesome. Everyone gives me so much freedom, and Hollywood has given me so much freedom to be who I wanna be.”