Season 18 fan-favorite Doug Kiker, also known as the “singing garbageman,” has been arrested on domestic assault charges in Alabama, just days after Season 19 finalist Caleb Kennedy was removed from American Idol after a racially offensive video was leaked. According to Mobile County Sheriff’s Office reports, Kiker was arrested on Thursday for domestic assault. The news was first reported by TMZ.
According to the music website A Taste of Country, Kiker was a married father of two who worked full-time on a garbage truck as of last year.
Kiker, 28, moved Idol judge Katy Perry to tears with his rendition of Rascal Flatts’ “Bless the Broken Path.” According to Yahoo Idol specialist Lyndsey Parker, the audition received over 200 million video views across all platforms. The dentally impaired competitor, on the other hand, did not last long on the competition, being sent home on the first day of Hollywood Week. However, he left an impact on his followers, who later assisted him in crowdfunding his debut album.
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Contestants on the show have had their fair share of run-ins with the courts. Cecil Ray, a Top 24 contestant, was arrested last month for robbery with the intention to commit assault. Brandon Cox, a former Hollywood Week contestant, was sentenced to 70 years in jail in April 2017 after being found guilty of possessing child pornography. Antonella Barba, who finished in the top 16 on Season 6, was sentenced to 45 months in jail in 2019 for owning and conspiring to sell almost two pounds of fentanyl.
Ahead of the season finale on May 23, ABC renewed American Idol for a fifth season, bringing the show’s cumulative season run to 20.
Idol is averaging 9.4 million viewers after 35 days of delayed viewing across cable and streaming channels, according to ABC, and it is the number one series in its two-hour time slot and the season’s fourth unscripted series with overall viewers.
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