List: 16 “American Idol” Contestants Who Have Dated – See Who Is Still Together
on Apr 23, 2026
At this point, American Idol is almost as successful as The Bachelor or The Bachelorette!
When American Idol premiered in 2002, the show set out to find the most talented singer in the country. They hit the lottery when the first season’s winner was Kelly Clarkson!
Over the last 24 years, there have been 23 champions including Kelly, Carrie Underwood, Scotty McCreery, Iam Tongi, and countless other talents who were discovered on the show.
RELATED: Complete List of ‘American Idol’ Winners: Where Are They Now?
Each season of American Idol features talented singers all around the same age, so it’s easy for everyone to become fast friends through this experience, and sometimes, that friendship turns romantic.
Most recently, Season 24 finalist Brooks and recently eliminated contested Rae Boyd revealed their relationship on the April 27th episode of the show, shocking their fellow cast and judges!
Take a look at our list of Idol contestants who first connected on the singing competition show!
Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini (Season 1)
Kelly Clarkson and runner-up Justin Guarini were rumored to be dating while they competed on Season 1, but they didn’t start dating until well after!
In 2015, Clarkson appeared on Watch What Happens Live and confirmed she did, in fact, date her runner-up.
“We didn’t date during Idol, which everybody thought we were dating. We did date a little bit. Any two people who are thrown together that much . . . I’m just sayin’,” she said.
The pair went on to co-star in the movie From Justin To Kelly, so they really did spend a lot of time together after the show wrapped up!
Diana Degarmo (Season 3) and Ace Young (Season 5)
Diana Degarmo was a fan-favorite on Season 3, coming in second place behind eventual winner Fantasia Barrino. Two years later, Ace Young auditioned for Season 5 of the show and made it to the Top 7.
They briefly met in Orlando at the opening of the “American Idol Experience,” an attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort in 2009, but they became close when they were both cast in the Broadway revival of Hair, which kicked off on March 9, 2010.
In May 2012, Young proposed to Degarmo on the Season 11 finale of American Idol. They were married a year later. They are still happily married!
David Cook (Season 7) And Kimberly Caldwell (Season 2)
While David Cook was competing on Season 7, he was doing red carpet interviews nearly every week, and he mustered up the courage before the finale episode (May 21, 2008) to ask out Kimberly Caldwell, a TV Guide Network correspondent and American Idol alum.
She was a finalist on Season 2, while Cook ended up being named the winner later that night after asking her out!
The pair dated for several months, but ultimately ended things in December 2008.
Caldwell married pro soccer player Jordan Harvey in 2014 and they have two children together. Cook married his longtime girlfriend Rachael Stump in 2015.
Zach D’onofrio (Season 16 & 19) and Catie Turner (Season 16)
Zach D’onofrio and Catie Turner first met when they both competed on Season 16 of the show, which was the first season that American Idol was on ABC.
Catie made it the the Top 7, while Zach was eliminated after the first round of Hollywood Week, where he was in a group with Catie. The two stayed in touch and eventually became a couple.
Zach returned for Season 19, where he brought his girlfriend Catie in for the audition!
Unfortunately, he once again didn’t make it out of Hollywood Week and they broke up sometime the same year.
Haley Slaton and Jordan Myles (Season 20)
Haley Slaton arrived at her Season 20 audition single and five months pregnant. There, she met fellow hopeful Jordan Myles. Two months later, in December 2021, they were married. Although he was not the father of her unborn child, Jordan stepped up and moved from his home state of Louisiana to Iowa to be with Haley and help raise her son as his own.
Her audition aired in March 2022, and her son, was already born. She performed “The Climb” for her audition, which sent her to Hollywood Week, but that’s where her journey ended.
The couple expanded their family once again in 2023.
Maddie Poppe and Caleb Lee Hutchinson (Season 16)
During the first season of Idol on ABC in 2018, the final two contestants came together to perform “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” and “What A Wonderful World” together, but not before they had an announcement.
“Is there a special significance to the song, Caleb, when you sing it with Maddie?” host Ryan Seacrest asked him.
“Well, you know, Maddie is like my best pal and I’ve known her since the beginning of Hollywood Week. She also happens to be my girlfriend,” he said to enormous cheer.
The pair remained long distance as they navigated their life post-Idol, and even returned to the show as a couple. They quietly broke up, although fans aren’t exactly sure when. Maddie went public with her boyfriend Gabe Burdulis in July 2023.
Gabby Barrett and Cade Foehner (Season 16)
Another love story emerged from Season 16. Fans spotted their flirty behavior towards each other, but they didn’t make things official until after the show.
Gabby and Cade were married on October 5, 2019 and have welcomed three children together, Baylah May (born January 2021) Augustine Boone (born October 2022), and Ivy Josephine (born February 2024).
While most of these couples have since broken up, there are still three married couples that came from Idol, and that’s more successful than some dating shows!
