‘American Idol’s Hannah Harper Responds to ‘Assumptions’ Made About Her

Alyssa Norwin May 8, 2026, 10:52 am

What To Know

Hannah Harper is a finalist on Season 24 of American Idol.
While on the show, she’s had to learn how to deal with criticism in the public eye and is now revealing how she deals with all of the opinions about her online.
Hannah will compete against Keyla Richardson and Jordan McCullough in the May 11 American Idol finale.

Hannah Harper was thrust into the spotlight as a contestant on Season 24 of American Idol, and she’s quickly had to learn to adapt to life in the public eye. While she now has thousands of fans following her on social media and voting for her on the show each week, she’s also had to deal with criticism from the haters, and she revealed how she’s learning to block out the noise.

“It’s overwhelming,” Hannah admitted. “Especially growing up in church and singing on a platform where you’re only singing for the Lord and not singing for feedback … it’s crazy to put yourself in a position where you have to be vulnerable and accepting that they could rip you to shreds. They could absolutely hate what you’re doing.”

While Hannah said allowing herself to be vulnerable with the world has “hurt at times because people will make assumptions of who they think I am as a person,” she added, “It’s OK. I think the biggest and healthiest thing for me to realize is that not every single person will get to know me on a deeper level and still be comfortable with them having opinions on who they think I am. That’s been the hardest part for me.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sara Sheffield Forhetz (@saraforhetz)

On May 11, Hannah will find out if she is the winner of Season 24 of American Idol. She and fellow finalists, Keyla Richardson and Jordan McCullough, will hit the stage for another night of performances, and viewers will vote for their favorite. The winner will be named at the end of the night.

It will be a jam-packed, three-hour event, which will also see the return of other artists from the season, as well as a ton of celebrity guest performances with the contestants (Hannah will be singing with Lee Ann Womack during the live show). All three judges (Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie) will also be hitting the stage to sing.