American Idol Contestant Admits to Fabrication

Into its 12th season, American Idol provides viewers with entertainment and optimistic hope as this singing competition turns ordinary folks with big dreams into Hollywood pop stars.  Each passing season has cultivated a greater competitive atmosphere and what hopeful competitors do to stand out from the crowd seems to have become more extreme. Even to the extreme of deception.

Meet Matt Farmer.  While past seasons made mockery of fanatical auditions with people dressed in bizarre costumes to William Hung’s sad attempt at singing “She Bang”, Farmer’s story warmed millions of viewer’s hearts.  During Idol’s Long Beach, California auditions, Farmer told host Ryan Seacrest that he had been diagnosed with brain injury as a result of an IED explosion while deployed in Afghanistan.  He added that he was placed on medication that essentially made him sterile.  Adding onto this “miracle” of a story, he discovered 6 months after that his wife was pregnant with his now 3 ½ year old daughter, Cadence. He auditioned with “A Change Is Gonna Come”, to which Mariah Carey called “heartfelt.”  Sounds like a fairytale but do not be fooled.  

Days after his audition aired and after receiving compassionate responses, Farmer professed that he completely fabricated this story.  This story had Scott and Todd amused, with Todd saying that “Farmer came clean about his lie AFTER he was already outed!”

Lying isn’t too unfamiliar to Farmer though.  In addition to his confessions, he admitted he has been known to lie since he was young and has dealt with this issue up to this day. However, he says he is “deeply regretful and sorry” for posing as a soldier.  Scott shook his head at the thought of how he had the audacity to pretend to represent something as honorable as a soldier.

Monk couldn’t grasp how anyone would lie in this digital age where information is easily accessible through the Internet. Cooper said that people can be looking up information about you at all times, especially during first dates while your date goes to the bathroom.  She crafted a hypothetical situation

“Let me see….Google… was Todd Pentingill once president?...No he isn’t!” she joked while she pretended to “search” on her cell phone.

“News wasn’t publicized back then when I was president! They didn’t have the Internet!” Todd replied smirking.

Well, until we discover if Todd was ever president, you’ll be happy to know that Matt Farmer is no longer a contestant on the show.  Lies don’t come without a price!