Carrie Underwood returned to TV on March 11 to show her support for the show that made her a household name, American Idol . Though the star has largely stayed under the radar ever since she had a nasty fall in November that left her with a broken wrist and 40 to 50 stitches in her face , she returned to the spotlight in a small way to support the show’s ABC reboot of the singing show. However, Underwood opted not to reveal her face for the first time after injury.
Instead of returning to the front of the camera for the big Season 16 premiere – which marked the show’s first airing on ABC after previously running on Fox since 2002 – TulsaWorld reported that Carrie stayed behind the camera and instead showed support via an inspirational voiceover to open the new season.
The site reported that Underwood, who has previously filmed new segments for new seasons of American Idol in past years before its big move to its new channel, opened the big premiere with some inspiring words.
A video of Carrie winning Season 4 of the TV series, as well as a shot of her Oklahoma hometown of Checotah, played during the premiere. The country star could be heard saying in part, “And so the adventure begins to uncover the finest talent this nation has to offer.”
“The journey will take us to every corner of this country with no voice left unheard, from the dreamers to the lullaby singers,” Underwood then continued in the voice over.
Carrie added, “They are the fabric of America and they could be stars in the making. I should know, because it happened to me.”
Referencing Carrie’s inspirational message, American Idol tweeted as the show aired, “A gorgeous, inspirational voice from American Idol’s past launches us into #AmericanIdol’s future. @carrieunderwood.”
The star has rarely appeared on TV since November when she co-hosted the 2017 CMA Awards with Brad Paisley. Shortly after, Underwood could then be seen on Grammys Greatest Stories: A 60th Anniversary Special , which she co-hosted with John Legend, and then in a video for the opening of the Super Bowl, though as Inquistr reported, both were filmed before her accident . She’s mainly stayed under the radar since.
Although Underwood didn’t acknowledge the much-anticipated return of the singing show on her social media accounts ahead of the March 11 premiere, she has admitted in the past that she’s pretty excited to see the series return after it was initially canceled by FOX in 2016.
“I love it when there are things out there that give people like me a chance,” Carrie told Hollywood Life last year when asked about the big return , shortly after she performed during Fox’s farewell episode which showed off some of the best moments from the series.
“Any shows like that that give an unknown an opportunity, I think is a really great thing,” Underwood added last year.
Underwood’s inspirational voiceover came just one day after the star celebrated turning 35-years-old on March 10.
As the Inquisitr previously reported, Carrie’s husband, Mike Fisher, had a pretty hilarious way of celebrating the occasion. He shared a not-so-flattering photo of his wife with some pretty huge hair on his Instagram page that was taken during the mom of one’s time on American Idol 13 years ago in 2005.
American Idol Season 16, hosted by Ryan Seacrest and with singers Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, and Luke Bryan on the judging panel, airs on both Sunday and Monday nights on ABC.