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John Foster, who finished as the runner-up for American Idol 2025, might not have made it to Hollywood Week without a little push on the part of Carrie Underwood to get her fellow judges Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie to vote him through. And she was right to do so, considering how far he went in the competition.

But what wasn’t revealed on American Idol but was shared by John’s mother, Amanda Benoit, during an emotional chat on the Unfiltered with Kevinpodcast, is that John had virtually auditioned for Idol back in 2021 during the COVID pandemic.

“He didn’t make it past the open call that first time,” she recalled. “But I’ll never forget how excited I was. I left work early that day. We had everything set up, and my heart was pounding. I just had so much faith in him—even when he didn’t quite believe in himself yet.”

John got a pass that first time around, but he didn’t let that discourage him. He auditioned a second time the following year and made the producers cut, but was eliminated before going in front of the judges.

According to Amanda, in those early auditions, John may not have had the confidence he needed, which changed when his local shows began selling out.

Finally, in 2024, John was invited back once again and the rest, as they say, is history, with John charting with his original song “Tell That Angel I Love Her,” which he wrote as a tribute to his late best friend Maggie Dunn, who was killed by a drunk driver on New Year’s Eve 2022.

“I think Maggie knew his potential before John Foster even did,” Amanda told Kevin. “She believed in him and pushed him to go after this dream. She was his person. After she died, music became his therapy.”

Amanda added that John carried Maggie with him for that performance. “Every word of that song—she was there,” she said.

Also, always there for John was his sister, Elizabeth, who postponed her wedding in order to be in the Idol audience each week, cheering him on once the live shows began.

“She’s been his number one cheerleader besides me,” Amanda continued. “They’re just two and a half years apart and incredibly close. She’s like a second mom sometimes—always in his corner, telling him, ‘You can do this.’”