Carrie Underwood Says She Had Never Been On A Plane Before 'Idol' Audition

Before winning Season 4 of American Idol, Carrie Underwood's life was completely different. In fact, she had never even been on an airplane.

The mom of two, who is currently on the road with her "Cry Pretty Tour 360," stopped by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Thursday night (October 3) and made the big reveal while reminiscing about her 2004 audition. "It was terrifying. It still freaks me out, to be honest," the star recalled of the experience. "I'm 36 years old and I've been to lots of airports, but back then I was by myself and there were lots of connecting flights to get there."

Underwood's first time flying also came with one dreaded hiccup: a missed connect. "Made a couple connections and one plane was late so I missed the next plane," she explained. "I'm on the phone with whoever our contact person was and I'm like, 'Please don't kick me off the show!' But I made it!"

Last week marked the 15th anniversary of her Idol audition, where she took to the reality TV competition in front of Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul to sing a rendition of Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me." She'd go on to improve her vocals in the years to come, but for her initial showing, the then-budding star walked away from her audition with stamps of approval from both Cowell and Jackson. Abdul missed out on the action. "That was very good, Carrie," Cowell complimented the future mega-star, before the contestant told Jackson that her favorite singer was Martina McBride.

Photo: Getty Images


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