The viral TikTok “Secret Shower Singer” revealed his identity as Bryant Thomas while delivering an impressive Phil Collins cover during his American Idol audition and proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Alyona, after earning a golden ticket to Hollywood Week with his stunning vocals.
“This next kid went viral because he’s posting singing from the shower,” Luke Bryan told his fellow Idol judges Lionel Richie and Carrie Underwood before allowing the contestant’s girlfriend to introduce him.
“My name is Alyona, and I am so excited to be here today. I am actually not singing though. My boyfriend Bryant is, and no one has any idea what he looks like. The camera is never on him, it’s always just on me doing my hair and makeup. So it’s just me reacting,” Alyona explained, referencing the videos that have gone viral on TikTok of her boyfriend Bryant singing in the shower. “Life with Bryant is… He’s made me come out of my shell a lot too as a person. I didn’t think that love ever existed like this until I met him. I’m so excited to be on this journey with him and this is such a big deal.”
For the first time in Idol history, the contestant wasn’t seen until midway through his audition. “So we’re gonna not watch him sing. We gotta ease him into this. I hear him walking in,” Luke Bryan added. Richie chimed in, “I can’t see anything.”
“Well, this is the first time we’ve ever allowed one of these [auditions] to ever go this way,” Bryan shared, with Richie joking, “a new era of American Idol.”
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Bryan welcomed him to the audition room, shouting, “hi, from behind the pillar.” The Idol hopeful then introduced himself as Bryant Thomas, a 26-year-old singer/songwriter from Mobile, Alabama that grew up singing in Church.
“Don’t look at me,” Thomas said before revealing that he has 110,000 fans on social media, all of whom have never seen his face and only have heard his stunning vocals.
From behind the massive white pillar, Bryant Thomas went on to perform a cover of “Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)” by Phil Collins.
“Wow, that’s great,” Richie stated while listening.
Around the second chorus of the Collins’ track, the “Secret Shower Singer” revealed his identity as Bryant Thomas, a 26-year-old mullet-baring man, wearing aviator sunglasses and a Canadian tuxedo with a black button-up shirt beneath his denim jacket.
Idol judges, Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan, offered a standing ovation as they were truly impressed by his vocal abilities. Richie shouted, “the reveal,” and Underwood added, “how does it feel?”
“The reveal here I am… I’m overwhelmed. I can’t lie to you. I’m just going to be like Luke, and I’m going to make jokes,” Thomas said with a laugh.
Underwood gushed, “Your voice is outrageous. It’s incredible. It really is. Even over there behind a pillar, you can feel just so much emotion and life in your voice. So well done.”
“I think we’ve got ourselves a hit record here. You’ve got star power vocals, man, and that little rasp you have is just on fire. You were all the way there, and I’m loving it, man,” Richie added.
Luke Bryan then praised his talent, “Great job. And really, really soulful voice!”
Bryant Thomas, in a state of shock and disbelief, admitted, “I feel like I’m hallucinating right now, honestly. Like, is this a projection. Is this AI?”
Richie, Underwood and Bryan then voted.
“Well, I think for the University of Idol, I would deem it very excited to put you in as part of this class. It’s a yes for me,” Richie began, “And I’m telling you something right now with the voice you have, Sky is the limit of where you’re going? Congratulations man.”
Underwood followed with a “heck yes,” and Bryan with the final “yes,” securing him a golden ticket to Hollywood Week, taking place in Music City this year.
Bryant Thomas’ girlfriend and their families then entered the audition room to learn of his fate on the show. “Well, he’s going through the Hollywood week and he’s a great singer. I appreciate y’all bringing him to us,” Bryan revealed.
The “Secret Shower Singer” then has one final surprise in store as he told the Idol judges, “I have one thing to say.” He then got down on one knee with a ring in his hand and proposed to his girlfriend, Alyona.
“I told you, you know, when we started this whole journey that you were the one for me… To be honest, whether I got a golden ticket or not, I was going to do this, and I just want you to know that my journey started with you, and it’s going to end with you and I promise you of that,” he told Alyona before asking her to marry him.
After securing his golden ticket and soon-to-be wife, Bryant Thomas, standing beside his fiancée, then told Idol producers, “I’ve been behind the scenes and I feel like I’m made for the stage and the spotlights, so I’m ready to assume my role in the front of this boat and take us all the way home.”
The Season 24 premiere of American Idol aired Monday, January 26 at 8/7c on ABC and will be available to stream on Hulu. New episodes will continue to air every Monday at 8/7c.
