Backstreet Boys singer Brian Littrell‘s son, Baylee Littrell, knew he’d face added pressure on American Idol due to his famous family.
Speaking with Us Weekly exclusively following his elimination from the singing competition show, Baylee, 22, admitted that he felt like somewhat of an outsider among the other contestants at first.
“It was hard to make friends, and it was hard for people to understand me because a lot of people, they did have preconceived notions of how I would be,” he told Us on Thursday, April 24. “And that’s one of the emotional parts of leaving is finally people get to see who you are. And finally we kind of set our differences aside or our assumptions of each other and all just started to bond.”
While it was challenging for him to fit in when the competition began, Baylee still had “a great experience” on the show.
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“When I left I was like, ‘Man, I’m just now starting to know everybody and it’s so great,’ but it was tough at first. I was kind of alone. I didn’t have any friends,” he continued.
Eventually, Baylee found support in fellow Idol hopeful Olivier Bergeron, who was also eliminated during the Monday, April 21, episode. (A total of six singers were cut from the top 20.)
“He’s pretty much my best friend now,” Baylee said. “He’s French Canadian, he’s from New Brunswick, and so we became friends during the whole process and we’ll be buddies for life.”
From his first audition, Baylee was candid about the double-edged sword of having a dad in the music business. Brian, 50 — who began his boy band career in the ’90s — got emotional while discussing his son’s own hopes to make it big.
“I’ve always told everybody that he’s 10 times more talented than I ever was,” he said in the season premiere on March 9.
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Baylee performed an original song for the judges before Brian was invited to join him. “For your superstar singer dad to come in here, I feel like for anybody else, it would make you look bad. But it didn’t. You were right there with him,” judge Carrie Underwood told Baylee. “You didn’t pale, you didn’t shy away. You were like, ‘This is my moment.’”
In a subsequent episode, Baylee emphasized that he wanted to set himself apart from his dad’s legacy. “When your family’s in the music business, it opens a lot of doors,” he said on March 31. “But it also creates a lot of animosity, so my big thing here is I’m here to make this on my own and carve my path.”
Just before his Idol elimination, Baylee performed the song “Gone Without Goodbye” from Brian’s 2006 solo album, Welcome Home. However, he told Us that he probably wouldn’t have tried to sing a Backstreet Boys hit if he’d stayed in the competition.
“I think my whole purpose on the show was to get out of the monopolization, even though it was constantly thrown in my face and it was just more about being my own artist, my own person,” he explained on Thursday.
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While Baylee would “absolutely not” try out for another reality singing show, there are a few things he wishes he’d done differently on Idol.
“To tell you the truth, I would’ve loved to have gone in there with just more spunk, just being less scared and having a little bit more confidence in myself,” he told Us. “And it’s hard when you’re in those situations with lack of sleep or not making a whole lot of friends or camaraderie or there’s just the pressures of the world on you. But there’s those moments where I was like, ‘Man, I wish I would’ve done this or that.’ … As a musician, I feel like it’s the same almost with athletes, you always just replay the things you could change, and we don’t watch highlights, but we watch our performances back and see the things we can do differently.”
As he continues to chase his dreams — Baylee is recording his original song “Hey, Jesus,” which Idol fans heard him perform this season — he’s keeping the judges’ advice at the front of his mind. He’ll also be tuning in for the remainder of the Idol season.
“I absolutely love Desmond [Roberts] so much. He’s so talented. So I would love to see Desmond be able to take home the grand prize there and win,” Baylee told Us. “I mean, I’m so torn though. … I’ll be watching ’em every step of the way and rooting for ’em all. But we’ve got some monumental voices on the show this year.”
American Idol airs on ABC Sundays and Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.
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