School’s out! Former American IdolFrontrunner Kenedi AndersonTwo months after abruptly quitting season 20 of the singing contest, she graduated high school.
“No more school for meee hehehe #graduation,” the singer, 18, captioned a carousel of Instagram photos on Monday, June 6, posing in her cap and gown with her diploma in hand.
Anderson celebrated this exciting milestone eight weeks after longtime American Idol host, Ryan Seacrest, announced that she was leaving the long-running reality show.
“You might have noticed that there was no voting information during Kenedi’s performance just now,” the emcee, 47, revealed during the April 11 episode of the show, in which she sang “Human” by Christina Perri. “Since we taped these shows in Hawaii earlier, Kenedi has decided to withdraw from our show for personal reasons. We send her well wishes.”
The Virginia native confirmed her departure the next day.
“For personal reasons, I’m unable to continue on American Idol. This has been one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make, but I know it’s necessary,” she wrote in a statement at the time. “I’m so grateful to American IdolI am grateful to the judges, producers, contestants, and all my supporters. Thank you for giving me such an amazing opportunity to share my voice, chase my dreams, feel so much joy and happiness doing what I love, and make lifelong friends along the way.”
Those friends include her coworkers American IdolCostar Emyrson Flora, who commented, “awe congrats babe❤️.”
Anderson was the favorite to win from the start. Anderson sang during her audition Lady Gaga’s “Applause” — and accompanied herself on piano — judge Luke Bryan declared that she “might be the biggest star we’ve ever seen.” Lionel Richie said the teen “answered all of our prayers,” while Katy Perry joked about her jealousy and told the hopeful she was “born to be a star.” The judges then gave her the platinum ticket to Hollywood. She appeared in three more episodes before giving up.
On April 13, just two days after Seacrest announced her exit from the series, fans were surprised to see the former reality star share a snippet of “a song I wrote not too long ago” via TikTok.
“I need to find, need to find something better than what I had, and with no strings attached,” she sang in the video, which has since been deleted. “Don’t I deserve that? Something with no strings attached.”
A production source exclusively told the story of her departure after she left. Us Weekly that the show was “disappointed to see Kenedi leave,” which the AI judges later emphasized.
“These kids, they got a lot coming at ’em,” Bryan, 45, told USA TodayIn April, we will be discussing the pressures that contestants are under. “I think, potentially for [Anderson’s]As important as the climb to the top or the career she has, her being part of our family is just as important. But, if you’re having doubts and anxieties and other things … we’re heartbroken as a show because she was so dynamic and great.”
The 20-year old country singer is finally the winner Noah ThompsonThe winner of IdolSeason 20 last month.
Keep scrolling to see Anderson’s pictures from her high school graduation:
