Eighteen years after skyrocketing to fame on “American Idol,” season seven runner-up David Archuleta now says he felt “ashamed” every week he advanced on the show, calling it “the most miserable experience.”
In an interview with People published on February 11, 2026, the singer opened up about not feeling comfortable in his own skin as a teen, long before he told his family and friends he identified as being part of the LGBTQ+ community.
David Archuleta Says Every Week on ‘American Idol,’ He Felt Like He ‘Didn’t Deserve’ to Be There
Competing on “American Idol” as a teenager, with a squeaky-clean image and Mormon background, was an incredible amount of pressure for Archuleta, he shared with E! News in August 2025, describing himself as “a very innocent, naive kid, who suddenly came to national fame on this show ‘American Idol’ when it was at the height of its popularity and millions of people were watching it and tuning in.”
“They were invested in me, whether I do well or what would happen next,” he continued, explaining that he had no plan after the show ended. “I didn’t know how to make that transition and was intimidated by all that pressure and attention.”
But in his most recent interview with People, Archuleta admitted that a big part of his anxiety was that he felt like a fraud, unsure why he felt different and confused about his identity.
He explained, “Being on ‘American Idol,’ every week I was like, ‘I don’t deserve to be here. I feel so unworthy. I feel ashamed. I feel like people don’t really know who I am. So, who are they falling in love with?’ I was like, ‘I can’t show you who I am entirely because if I did, like, you would all be disappointed in me.'”
Archuleta also recalled feeling like there was “something wrong” with him that needed fixing, telling People, “I think that’s what made it the most miserable experience for me, was having to feel like I never deserved to be there and still get voted through next week each week, and feeling exhausted just by being in front of people and exposed when I wanted to hide so bad.”
David Archuleta Says He Sometimes Slept in His Car While Competing on ‘American Idol’
GettyArchuleta didn’t come out publicly until 2021. In his new memoir “Devout,” to be released on February 17, the former Mormon will tell the full story about coming to grips with the religion and rules he grew up with, and how he came to terms with his own identity.
He told E! News that the book “is about how I grew up extremely religious and extremely devoted to my beliefs and the kind of person I thought I was supposed to be. Then coming to terms with my sexuality, coming to terms with where I really stand with what my beliefs are, not just what someone else was telling me I should believe.”
Archuleta was so ashamed while competing on “American Idol,” he told People that “I was sleeping in my car a lot of times because that’s what I believed I deserved. So, it’s it’s nice to look back and be like, I got through that. Like, in my very imperfect way of doing it, but I made it through it and I found a way to feel better about myself.”
