A video of Alan Ritchson serenading Paula Abdul during his “American Idol” audition has resurfaced in the wake of his viral fight with a neighbor in Tennessee.
The “Reacher” star appeared on the hit singing competition during Season 3 in 2004, and performed Stevie Wonder’s “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” for the “Straight Up” singer.
“Sorry, Alan, can I just say before you start, thank you for putting a little smile on Paula’s face,” Simon Cowell begins in the resurfaced clip. “God bless you for that.”
“I am single, you know,” Ritchson, then 20, jokes.
The clip then cuts to an interview with Abdul, now 63, from behind the scenes of the long-running ABC show.
“There was this one guy in Atlanta, his name was Alan Ritchson, and he’s totally hot,” the then-judge shares. “Randy [Jackson] and Simon decided to leave the table and let Alan sing the whole audition to me.”
She continues, “Now listen, I’m a professional, and it didn’t sway my decision … much.”
After returning to Ritchson’s performance, the “War Machine” star is seen kneeling in front of Abdul as he belts out the first verse of the Wonder hit.
A rep for Ritchson didn’t immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
The “Blue Mountain State” alum, now 43, addressed his “American Idol” audition during an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in December 2023.
Although he was ultimately cut during the Hollywood group round before reaching the final 32 contestants, Ritchson looked back at his time on the show with Abdul and the others fondly — even if his scenes were edited to make him look worse than he actually was.
“Like, what the hell? I was helping people!” Ritchson joked after Kimmel showed a clip of the actor messing around in a pool while the other “American Idol” contestants struggled to write songs.
The Amazon Prime Video star made headlines when he was caught on video fighting his neighbor Ronnie Taylor in broad daylight on March 22.
Footage obtained by TMZ showed Taylor kneeling on the ground as Ritchson appeared to hit him “at least four times.”
Taylor later spoke out on the scary incident, claiming that Ritchson “kicked the crap” out of him after a motorcycle dispute in their Brentwood neighborhood.
“Then it escalated quite quickly from there,” the “Titans” star’s neighbor said. “I did push him because he was coming toward me on his bike.”
While Ritchson declined to discuss the fight when speaking with the Daily Mail on March 23, he appeared to hint at the altercation in an Instagram post and a subsequent video shared to the platform.
The Brentwood Police Department ultimately announced that Ritchson wouldn’t face any criminal charges over his and Taylor’s brawl.
Authorities ruled Ritchson acted in self-defense, and an investigation into the matter was closed.
“After reviewing available evidence, including video footage and witness statements, authorities determined that no criminal charges will be pursued,” Brentwood Police Captain Steven Pepin said. “Mr. Ritchson’s actions were found to be in self-defense.”
Pepin also shared that Ritchson declined to press charges against his neighbor, even though a possible reckless endangerment charge was reportedly “considered.”
