American Idol season 22: KB opens up about "painful" ailment

American Idol season 22 released a brand new episode on Sunday, February 25, on ABC. The latest installment picked up from where the entertaining premiere left off last week. The night was filled with soulful performances by several participants and Kaibrienne Richins aka KB, a resident of Utah, stood out to the judges and fans.

She described her hometown to be located in the "middle of nowhere" with a population of a mere 1,000 people. When asked by the judges if it was her dream to be on American Idol, KB immediately nodded but highlighted that she had never been "confident enough or believed" in herself to do it.

In an emotional confessional, KB spoke at length about suffering from a "painful" condition, Hashimoto's disease, an autoimmune disorder affecting the thyroid gland, as per Mayo Clinic.

"It's a thyroid disease that's super painful and when it flares up it's just crazy mood swings. It's so bad," she said.

Trigger warning: This article contains mentions of suicidal thoughts. Readers' discretion is advised.

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KB shares her struggles on American Idol season 22

The 20-year-old was diagnosed with the disease when she was in the fourth grade. KB believes she is "too hard" on herself owing to her health condition and stated that she has "crazy mood swings."

The Utah native was accompanied by her father during the audition round, who broke down in a confessional as he shed light on KB's health struggle. He expressed how the budding singer had always struggled with regulating her emotions and said:

“She can be the one to go from 'this is the best thing in the world' to turning her head towards ya and saying she wants to die.”

KB’s dad highlighted that music was an outlet for the youngster to cope with her struggle. He decided to go on drives and film KB while she was singing and when the videos surfaced online he claimed people "wanted more." Within a couple of months, KB garnered over a million followers on social media. Reflecting on her life, the Utah native said in a confessional on American Idol:

“The nights that I feel like I couldn't do anymore I’m just glad that I pushed through.”

She performed a soulful rendition of Something in the Orange by Zach Bryan which gave judge Luke Bryan a "full body wave of chills." Katy Perry stated that she recognized a "unique tone" and said that there was something "special" about KB that kept her captivated during the performance. The Dark Horse songstress noted:

“I think you have a real unique tone about you that is very special. It may need some pulling and prodding and just people to help strengthen it. But that is the special sauce that people have to have it when they're forming who they are as an artist.”

Lionel Richie remarked that he had heard the song several times before but "that was your song," he said. In the end, the three judges arrived at a unanimous decision and voted "Yes" for KB, thereby inviting her to Hollywood to move ahead in American Idol season 22.

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Besides KB, Noah Peters, Loretta Lynn's granddaughter Emmy Russell, Ziggy Krassenberg, Abi Carter, and Dawson Slade, were some other contestants who received golden tickets to Hollywood in episode 2.

American Idol season 22 will return with episode 3 on Sunday, March 3, on ABC. Fans can also watch the show on streaming platforms including DirecTV Stream and Fubo TV.