‘American Idol’ Set Malfunction Gives Katy Perry a Fright in Exclusive Season 4 Clip

Season 4 of American Idol will soon return to your television screens, as the season is currently filming. In an exclusive sneak peek from the upcoming season, judge Katy Perry, unfortunately, suffered a bit of a fright thanks to a set malfunction. Of course, the singer quickly recovered from the scare and managed to turn it into a hilarious moment with fellow judges Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan.

In the clip, Perry can be seen sharing some advice with a contestant when a set-piece behind her comes crashing down. The crash causes the “Dark Horse” singer to yell and jump out of her chair in shock. She then exclaims, “They’re here! They’re here!” The implication — given that they’re filming during Halloween season — is that some sort of apparition caused the set malfunction. Bryan concurs with the theory, as he says, “This place is haunted!” After taking a beat to calm down after the scare, Perry apologizes and jokes, “I’ve just been in fight or flight mode all of 2020.”

Perry and Bryan continue to discuss whether spirits are haunting them. The country singer tells the pop star that the hotel they’re staying in is “definitely haunted.” This story prompts Perry to attempt to scare Bryan as she yells out and points to something behind him, causing him to turn around in fear. But, she was merely playing around and getting into the spooky spirit. Richie then shares that he’s not down to talk about haunted hotels, telling Perry that he is indeed scared. He then explains, “You know why [I’m scared]? Because the brother dies first in every haunted movie.” The moment brought a major dose of levity to the set, as all of the judges then broke out into laughter.

Perry returned to work for Season 4 of American Idol two months after giving birth to her first child, daughter Daisy, with her fiancé Orlando Bloom. During an interview with Entertainment Tonight, published in early October, the singer discussed returning to work, noting that she is incredibly “grateful” to help other singers achieve their dreams on the ABC program. “I mean, my life just feels very full and whole. And you know, it’s hard a little bit these first couple of days away and not being able to be there,” Perry said. She then praised Bloom for his parenting skills, adding, “I’ve seen the Bjorn on him, I’ve seen him with the bottle, I’ve seen all the pictures. It’s all good.”