- "American Idol" contestants told Insider the worst parts of competing on the reality show.
- They said Hollywood week can be brutal, and it's hard to avoid online bullying after competing.
Viewers don't see everything that goes down on "American Idol."
Ahead of the Fox-ABC show's 20th anniversary, Insider asked winners and finalists to share the worst parts about being on the singing competition.
The cash prize isn't as life-changing as some fans may expect
Season-16 winner Maddie Poppe said the biggest misconception fans have is about the cash prize winners receive.
"People were asking my parents, 'So are you quitting your jobs?'" she told Insider. "They asked my sister, 'Oh, so are you quitting your job? Is your sister going to support you now?'"
Poppe said that people often assume that "Idol" winners are "set for life," but it's really just the start of their music careers.
"You do get $250,000, but not really because of taxes," Poppe told Insider. "And you get half of it before you complete your record, and then the second half you get after you complete the record. So it's just like an advance from the record deal, but I'm pretty sure I have to recoup it."
One winner felt like he had little support for his debut album
Although Caleb Johnson won season 13 of "
"Because the label wouldn't release the single, there was no single that came out after the record was done," Johnson told Insider. "There was no music video. There was nothing."
He said he eventually spent his own money on "a music video to release a single because there was nothing."
Johnson also said that trying to promote the album on his own while performing on the "Idol" tour after his season was "rough" and "grueling."
Representatives for 19
Competing in front of the whole country welcomes criticism, especially online
Diana DeGarmo, who placed second on the third season of "Idol," said that hateful comments online "caused a lot of mental damage," on top of the criticism from the judges.
"I was getting it to my face by Mr. Cowell, weekly," DeGarmo told Insider, referring to judge Simon Cowell. "And so at the end, I remember I thought, I kinda just want to go home."
Season-11 runner-up Jessica Sanchez said she received "a ton" of hatred online and had to learn to deal with it.
"I'm this little 16-year-old girl. And that's why I said I had to learn how to have thick skin at a really young age and just really learn, OK, whatever they're saying doesn't matter," she told Insider.
Season-seven winner David Cook told Insider he came across a "funny little hate site" that polled voters on who deserved to be on "Idol" the least.
"I remember seeing this one comment on there that bothered the hell out of me, and it just ate at me and ate at me and I couldn't find peace with it," Cook said.
For another, dealing with sudden fame in real life was equally challenging
Competing on "Idol" introduces singers to fans across the country, so it can be shocking to leave the show and get recognized on the street.
Melinda Doolittle, who competed on season six, said she had to hire security for six months after the show.
"The show was so big, especially at that point, like you could not walk more than 10 feet without getting stopped or people wanting pictures and wanting to talk to you," she told Insider.
One runner-up said he feels like 'Idol' doesn't look after its former contestants
According to season-six runner-up Blake Lewis, it's easy to feel forgotten after an "Idol" season wraps, especially since older seasons of the show aren't on streaming services.
He added that he's tried, unsuccessfully, to get copies of his season "for years" so he can watch it for the first time.
Lewis also went on to say that the "infrastructure" of "Idol" isn't built to promote or sustain connections with performers after a season ends, especially if they didn't win.
"'American Idol' doesn't give two cents about us after we're not on the show, unless you got first place," he told Insider.
On early seasons, producers spent airtime 'making fun' of bad auditions
Lewis said he never watched "Idol" before competing on the show, but he knew the series had a reputation for highlighting "fame seekers" and bad singers during early audition rounds.
"In passing, I think, someone had that on, and it was like, 'Wow, they're making fun of people,'" Lewis told Insider.
Season-nine runner-up Crystal Bowersox likened the show's penchant for airing bad auditions to "bullying."
"I have noticed that the show has moved away from what they used to do, which was let people through the competition or the judgment process knowing that they were just simply going to make fun of them and crush their dreams and send them home," she told Insider.
Sanchez also said she's happy the show has moved away from airing those kinds of auditions.
"If you're going to have airtime, you should be pushing people that are really serious about music and that have really been dedicating their lives to it and put a lot of, pretty much blood, sweat, and tears into the music," she said.
The audition process can be lengthy and expensive
Singers don't perform for judges like Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson during their first audition. Several contestants said there are multiple rounds of initial screenings.
"People always seemed a little shocked when I tell them that my audition in front of Simon and Paula and Randy was my fifth audition," Cook told Insider.
He also earned a lot of "frequent flier miles" during auditions, flying back and forth from Oklahoma to Nebraska over the course of three months.
"Once you get to Hollywood Week, they put you up in cover flights and all that, but yeah, for the city auditions segment, you're on your own pocket," Cook said.
Several contestants traveled long distances for their auditions, like season-15 runner-up ASE, formerly known as La'Porsha Renae, who made a 29-hour drive to audition in Providence, Rhode Island.
Although DeGarmo was based in Georgia, she flew all the way to Hawaii to audition for her season before the city tours ended.
Throughout her rounds of auditions, she also said she had to wear the same exact outfit, which came with challenges when she didn't live in the area.
"I remember trying to air out my clothes because they just reeked so bad from standing outside in the heat, and trying to steam it in the shower of the hotel you're in and flattening out the sticker," DeGarmo said.
Hollywood Week can be pretty grueling
"Idol" finalists didn't hold back when it came to describing the first week in Hollywood after auditions. Season-six finalist Sanjaya Malakar said the week was like "a punch in the face."
"I think they purposefully try to push you to your limits emotionally and physically and mentally just to see how you react," Poppe told Insider.
DeGarmo said that Hollywood Week meant constantly being "camera-ready," even as stress and lack of sleep whittled down the competition.
"You just have to be ready to go at any time, which is very draining and stressful," she said, adding she saw a lot of "bad-ass performers" breaking down or getting sick.
The week of the finale can also be particularly difficult
For season-13 runner-up Jena Irene Asciutto, who competed alongside Johnson, the toughest part was the finale.
"By the end of the finale, I think Caleb and I had just sang in six or seven different performances that week," she said. "So we were burnt the fuck out."
Johnson said it was stressful because his "voice was blown out" for the finale.
"They did this kind of unorthodox thing where they took a needle of adrenaline and would spray my vocal chords to basically make it come back," he told Insider.
Lewis called the season-six finale the "worst week of my life" because he felt the final song both finalists had to sing for the competition, "This Is My Now," was "written for Jordin Sparks."
"That whole week was terrible," Lewis told Insider. "No one gets to see the behind-the-scenes, no one gets to see me like in agony, like just this should be like the dopest week of my life, but I know I'm getting second place."
One winner said he hated his 'coronation' song
"My winner single was crap, and I would say that 90% of every other winner's single is crap," Johnson told Insider. "Like it's the cheesiest thing."
When it came to his finale, Johnson was so "pissed" about his "coronation" song "As Long As You Love Me" that he said he fought against producers until the last live show.
"It was an amazing experience to win it, but it was a not-so-amazing experience to sing a really crappy song," he said.
For better or for worse, contestants have a hard time shaking their 'Idol' title
Johnson said being associated with the show has led to some professional hang-ups.
"Do I always love being labeled as 'American Idol'-winner Caleb Johnson? Not really. But is that what I am? Yeah," he said. "You seal the deal when you do that show."
After competing, Lewis said he wasn't able to return to the gigs he'd been doing before "Idol."
"It's such a double-edged sword," he told Insider. "Like all the cool stuff I was doing before hosting festivals? Never got hired for that ever again, just cause I was a part of that show."
Asciutto said she struggled to grow her music career after "Idol," especially since the show didn't offer her a record deal.
"All anyone cares about is this 'American Idol' title, which is dope, but it's a reality-TV show," she told Insider. "And it's also not the music industry, which is a complete fact."
She continued, "After the fact, like two or three years after, I was pissed. Is that all I'm fucking known for?"
Competing on 'Idol' comes with plenty of sacrifices
For many contestants, competing meant walking away from jobs, school, or whatever else they were doing at the time.
Poppe said she had to "take the leap of faith" and drop out of school when she made it on the show.
According to Bowersox, the producers also barred contestants from taking any outside gigs while filming their season.
"Telling me that I couldn't perform?" she said. "That was my sole source of income."
Bowersox said she ended up finding a way to perform under an alias without getting disqualified from the competition.
On season six, Lewis said contestants weren't allowed access to their social-media profiles during filming.
"My YouTube and MySpace was taken until you got off the show, like three months off the show," he said. "I'm like, how am I supposed to have a fan base after this? It's insane."
Representatives for "American Idol," Fox, and ABC did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.