Vanessa Hudgens may have been the next Kelly Clarkson in another life as she revealed to the American Idol alum that she almost auditioned for the singing competition show before starring in Disney’s High School Musical. Kelly made history back in 2002 when she was the first-ever winner on the show, beating runner-up Justin Guarini and going on to have a successful music career. The star has since moved on to coach contestants on NBC’s The Voice but continues her musical passion by releasing her most recent album When Christmas Comes Around… in December and regularly covering songs on her talk show, The Kelly Clarkson Show. Recently, the singer impressed fans with her cover of “Dancing In The Street” By Martha And The Vandellas.
Vanessa has also come a long way since her days on the Disney Channel, playing the ambitious and kind-hearted Gabriella Montez in the High School Musical franchise. The star has since transitioned to acting in non-musical films like Harmony Korine’s 2012 film Spring Breakers and Netflix’s The Princess Switch trilogy. However, she’s also stayed true to her musical roots starring in FOX’s productions of Grease Live and Rent Live and joining Oscar nominee Andrew Garfield in the film adaptation of tick, tick…BOOM!. The actress also made her way to Broadway in the 2015 revival of Gigi, starring in the lead role.
While Vanessa’s lead role in High School Musical launched her into fame and helped her secure other musical roles in the future, the star originally had different career plans. The Disney actress stopped by The Kelly Clarkson Show and told the host that before being cast in the Disney film trilogy, she wanted to audition for American Idol. “You were on American Idol, and you won. And I was like, ‘That’s it, I’m going on American Idol,’” Vanessa revealed. “And then that next week, I got an audition for High School Musical and booked it, so then I was like, well, never mind.” Kelly laughed, responding, “That worked out,” and graciously accepted Vanessa’s compliment that she was the catalyst for her career.
The star went on to talk about the audition process for High School Musical, stating there were three auditions she had to do before getting the part. Kelly then revealed that what a lot of people don’t know is there are several auditions contestants on American Idol have to go through before getting to the televised audition. Vanessa reminisced on meeting her co-stars Zac Efron and Lucas Grabeel for the first time, sharing that she’d already met co-star Ashley Tisdale, with whom she remains close friends to this day. “I’ve got decades under my belt now,” Vanessa said, realizing how long she’s been in the industry.
While Vanessa would have been a great contestant on American Idol, it’s probably best she didn’t audition, as High School Musical wouldn’t have been the same without her. Things definitely worked out in her favor, with the film becoming a massive success, which fans still talk about today. Still, it’s nice to hear her talk about what an inspiration Kelly was to her singing career. Maybe one day, she’ll join the coach on The Voice and finally get her chance to star on a reality singing competition.
American Idol airs Sundays and Mondays at 8 p.m. EDT on ABC.
