The “American Idol” contestant whom judge Katy Perry was accused of “mom-shaming” during her audition has left the singing competition.
Sarah Beth Liebe, a unusual 25-year-old redheaded mother of three, gave a standout performance of The Police hit “Roxanne” in the course of the Hollywood round on Sunday night’s episode.
Her rendition actually impressed the previously judgmental “Teenage Dream,” singer, in addition to judges Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan.
But before taking the stage, Liebe admitted to feeling homesick and “selfish” about leaving her young family behind to pursue the competition.
“I don’t even know what show business is,” she told the cameras. “I’ve been a mom since I used to be 18. I’ve been married since I used to be 18. I don’t think I noticed quite how hard it could be to be away from my kids.”
So after her performance, she told the judges: “This chance is basically rad, but this is definitely going to be my last performance because my heart’s at home.
“So, I’m going get home to my babies. They type of need me. Thanks,” she said before running off the stage.
Confused, the judges called her back before the cameras to attempt to persuade her to remain.
“Life is horrifying,” Perry said. “I also know that it’s easier to walk away than to be rejected. But then I also know that you simply lose out in your fullest potential.
“And I do know that you simply love your loved ones to your kids. I do know that as a mother. Remember, self-love is just as big as motherly love,” she stated.
Perry’s plead was quite the other of her first interaction with the kooky hopeful, wherein she claimed Liebe didn’t want her singing dreams badly enough and nicknamed her “Freaky Friday” on account of her awkward nervousness.
After that first interaction, Liebe headed to TikTok to say it was “embarrassing to have that on TV,” while also adding: “I believe that mom-shaming’s super lame.”
On Sunday’s episode, though, the judges still put Liebe through to the subsequent round — but she ultimately decided to depart the show.
“I feel like I’m not going to win the show anyway, so I should just go home,” Liebe told a producer backstage.
“I’m sure that once I get home, I’ll regret it,” she admitted in an interview.
Liebe added, “I probably will go, ‘Rattling, Sarah, you must have stayed and you must have done it.’”
“Man, that sucks,” Bryan said to Perry and Richte about Liebe’s decision.
But Liebe further explained her reasoning Sunday on TikTok, claiming that she was “scouted” to be on “American Idol,” moderately than auditioning on her own initiative.
“Sometimes you’re presented big opportunities and situations and we’ve got to make big decisions. A whole lot of people don’t realize that I used to be scouted to audition. They reached out to me,” the tearful singer wrote over the video of her having a “literal panic attack” after her first audition.
“And I’m so grateful. I’ve never had this much support with singing. And it’s mind-blowing and so humbling and has made me realize how badly I would like to do music. Six months ago, I didn’t know that yet. But I’m also allowed to make hard decisions which are best for me.
“I took a probability on something big and said yes to an enormous and really unexpected opportunity that was presented to me and while it could not have been for me, in the method, found myself again with essentially the most talented people I’ve had the distinction of meeting, a lot of which are actually close friends and fell in love with music again,” she stated.
In one other TikTok, Liebe shared a snippet of her latest song “Bruises,” a boppy tune that she’ll release “very soon!” based on the post.
“American Idol” airs Sundays and Mondays at 8 p.m. EST on ABC and streams the subsequent day on Hulu.
