The “American Idol” alum reflects on the 2006 debacle that played out on live TV, admitting, “I was freaked out.”

Clay Aiken says he ‘died inside’ when Rosie O’Donnell ‘outed’ him on The View amid feud with Kelly Ripa

The “American Idol” alum reflects on the 2006 debacle that played out on live TV, admitting, “I was freaked out.”

By Kathleen Perricone

September 17, 2026 9:30 p.m. ET

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Clay Aiken; Rosie O’Donnell. Credit:

John Lamparski/Getty; Randy Holmes/Disney via Getty

- Clay Aiken says he “died inside” when Rosie O’Donnell “outed” him on *The View* in 2006 amid his feud with Kelly Ripa.

- “I was freaked out,” admitted the *American Idol* alum, who announced he was gay two years later.

- Aiken also revealed how Tori Spelling helped him make light of the situation.

Clay Aiken is reliving “the most catastrophic week” of his life, which culminated with Rosie O’Donnell inadvertently outing him on live TV.

Back in November 2006, the *American Idol* alum subbed for Regis Philbin on *Live With Regis and Kelly* and created an awkward moment when he playfully put his hand over Kelly Ripa’s mouth. “I don’t know where that hand’s been, honey,” she quipped.

Twenty years later, the infamous exchange keeps popping up on social media — and in the algorithm of *Page Six Radio* host Evan Real, who brought it up to Aiken in a new interview on Thursday.

Aiken covers Ripa’s mouth on ‘Live With Regis and Kelly’ in 2006.

“I didn’t realize that Rosie O’Donnell defended you so fiercely,” said Real, referencing a subsequent segment on *The View* during which O’Donnell slammed Ripa’s retort as “homophobic” (which Ripa vehemently denied when she called in to the show moments later).

“You say defended, I say outed,” clarified Aiken, who didn’t publicly reveal his sexuality until a September 2008 PEOPLE magazine cover. After Real apologized for not knowing the full context, Aiken admitted, “I died inside a lot that week.”

Clay Aiken recalls 'huge blowup' with Kelly Ripa 20 years later: 'Probably the most catastrophic week of my life'

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As the singer explained, he was asleep in Los Angeles when the morning TV debate went down in New York City.

His friend Jaymes Foster, with whom Aiken fathered a son in 2008, came into his bedroom. “‘You need to wake up because Rosie just outed you on *The View*,’” he recalled her saying. “I woke up. I was freaked out.”

** has reached out to representatives for O’Donnell and Ripa.

Deep down, Aiken knows that his friend meant no harm by the gaffe.

“I don’t have any ill feelings against Rosie. She did mean well,” he acknowledged. “Her words were, I think, chosen in the heat of like, ‘Why the hell is this girl on live TV with me right now?’ And so she was caught off guard.”

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That evening, Aiken was set to introduce John Mayer’s performance at the American Music Awards with Tori Spelling. He recounted how the “gracious” *Beverly Hills, 90210* actress suggested they “do something funny” to diffuse the situation.

Tori Spelling jokingly covers Aiken’s mouth onstage at the 2006 American Music Awards.

M. Caulfield/WireImage

Onstage at the Shrine Auditorium, as Aiken rattled off Mayer’s many accomplishments, the five-months pregnant Spelling put her hand over his mouth. “And I’ll tell you where that hand’s been later,” she quipped.

All these years later, the 2006 fiasco hardly ever crosses his mind, Aiken told *Page Six Radio*. But, “I’ve thought about it more in the past three months because of folks asking about it.”

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