On May 1, American Idol season two winner Ruben Studdard and runner-up Clay Aiken were revealed as “The Beets” on FOX’s The Masked Singer. But even though they had to wear crazy costumes that limited their movements, the two told Billboard that competing on Idol was much scarier.
“The interesting thing about Idol for me was obviously it was scary every week because you’re worried you’re going to go home because there’s stakes involved and it’s your life and your career,” Clay explained. “On Masked Singer, we didn’t have that concern at all. We came off tour to do it and went back on tour after it and we came on knowing we were going to have fun and goof off and enjoy ourselves.”
But he also noted, “I never worried about falling off stage on Idol. I was definitely worried about it every time we performed on this show.”
Clay said he and Ruben had talked about being on the show over the years, but it wasn’t until they went on the road together that he thinks the producers figured, “‘[They’re] on tour together, but people might not think of them as a duo, so that might be a way to trick the audience,’ so it worked out perfectly for us.”‘
Asked if they were upset about leaving the show after only a few weeks, Ruben said, “I was disappointed to leave… I want to win everything. I don’t care if it’s marbles or jumping jacks — and I know I can’t do that many — but I want to win.”
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