The American Idol Reboot Had Its First Wardrobe Malfunction

Reality television rarely goes entirely as planned, and there's always the chance of something going wrong and resulting in a bunch of bloopers. Wardrobe malfunctions can be more cringe-worthy than entertaining, but the latest to hit primetime was fortunately not too embarrassing. Judge Katy Perry experienced a wardrobe malfunction of her own in the latest episode of the brand new American Idol reboot during an audition. Take a look!

American Idol contestants often go out of their way to make a mark and leave an impression on the judges so that they're not forgotten in the mass of people auditioning, and hopeful Michelle Sussett decided that she needed to bust out some dance moves in her audition with the help of the judges. After some prompting from Sussett, Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, and Luke Bryan joined her in a dance. The guys didn't get too wild in their dancing, but Katy Perry got pretty into the movement. Unfortunately, Perry go into the movement while wearing impressively high heels and a dress not really designed for exuberant dancing. Perry slipped and hit the ground at an angle that resulted in her flashing everybody in the studio.

The good news for Katy Perry is that American Idol doesn't air its auditions live, which means that her wardrobe malfunction could be blocked by a handy American Idol logo. She didn't actually show any unintended skin on primetime, and she was able to laugh off the incident even as she tried to get up. Her outfit didn't allow her to just pop right back up, and it took a few tries for her fellow judges to work out the technique to put her back on her feet. Lionel Richie finally got her halfway up, and Luke Bryan was able to help her the rest of the way into a vertical position. All things considered, Perry's wardrobe malfunction went just about as well as it could have. Unlike past incidents with Janet Jackson and Chrissy Teigen, nobody outside of her immediate vicinity (and the episode editors) actually saw anything.

In fact, I would argue that the most awkward and cringe-worthy part of the audition came earlier when Michelle Sussett was trying to convince the judges to get up and start dancing. There were a few moments when it definitely seemed like none of them would join her and she would be stuck singing and dancing while knowing that she couldn't convince anybody to dance with her. Luckily for her, the three judges did ultimately get up, and Katy Perry wasn't offended that the dancing resulted in a wardrobe malfunction. Sussett got the ticket to Hollywood and will advance to the next stage of competition, although we can bet that some precautions will be in place to prevent another malfunction happening.

For more American Idol, tune in to ABC on Sundays and Mondays at 8 p.m. ET. We'll have to wait and see if the ratings improve. If you're still looking for other shows, our midseason TV premiere guide, our Netflix premiere schedule, and Amazon Prime rundown can help you out.

Laura Hurley
Senior Content Producer

Laura turned a lifelong love of television into a valid reason to write and think about TV on a daily basis. She's not a doctor, lawyer, or detective, but watches a lot of them in primetime. CinemaBlend's resident expert and interviewer for One Chicago, the galaxy far, far away, and a variety of other primetime television. Will not time travel and can cite multiple TV shows to explain why. She does, however, want to believe that she can sneak references to The X-Files into daily conversation (and author bios).