Alan Ritchson, 43, has posted a fresh singing clip to Instagram, reigniting fan obsession with his decades-old “American Idol” audition that once sent Simon Cowell storming out of the room.
The “Reacher” star shared the hotel-room performance on Thursday, belting out a cover of “Human Nature” with the self-deprecating caption: “A weak hotel room attempt at #HumanNature for your viewing pleasure or scorn!”
One follower quickly fired back beneath the post: “Calling this a weak attempt is pretty disrespectful to the rest of us who sound like injured wildlife in the shower.”
That exchange arrived exactly twenty-three years after Ritchson, then 20, first stepped before Cowell, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul on season three of the Fox competition series.
The 2004 audition took an immediate left turn before Ritchson sang a single note. Cowell, 65, thanked the shirtless contestant for putting “a smile on Paula’s face,” while Abdul openly noted how “totally hot” she found him.
Then Cowell and Jackson stood and exited the room entirely, leaving Ritchson alone with Abdul. The aspiring singer dropped to one knee and serenaded her with Stevie Wonder’s “You Are the Sunshine of My Life.”
Cowell and Jackson re-entered mid-performance, applauding as they pulled Ritchson away from Abdul.
“I’m concerned Alan. I don’t know if your intentions are honourable,” Cowell joked.
After advising the contestant to “chill on the runs,” all three judges delivered yes votes.
“Anyone who can put a smile on Paula Abdul’s face for longer than a minute goes through in my books,” Cowell added.
Ritchson advanced to the season’s final 32 before producers cut him from the show entirely — a twist he later said actually propelled his career forward, despite his frustration that producers had allegedly manipulated him into a fabricated storyline.
The elimination sent him toward modeling and commercial work, then acting, where he landed his breakout as Aquaman on “Smallville” before becoming an action star.
His Instagram post this week drew fresh amazement from fans discovering the full arc.
“Why is this man so damn talented?” one user wrote beneath the Thursday clip.
Ritchson currently stars in “Reacher,” the Amazon Prime Video spin-off that has dominated streaming charts across multiple seasons.