Justin Bieber is set to appear on the Thursday’s edition of The Doctors as a surprise for a female teen survivor who was badly burned in a home explosion last November.
As it turns out, the young girl — Kilee Brookbank — who hails from Georgetown, Ohio, is a huge fan of the singer, and friends have been rallying since the tragedy for her to meet her idol using the hashtag #KileemeetJB .
Kilee suffered second degree burns to over 45 percent of her body in the freak explosion of her family home, and she has been recovering since.
On Monday, online chatter started bubbling about the 20-year-old singer’s upcoming turn on the popular show after some fans tweeted about a TV preview featuring the Canadian.
Confirmation arrived via an episode summary that popped up online and a tweet posted by photographer, Rich Cruse, who describes himself on Twitter as a social media contributor for The Doctors and Dr. Phil .
Cruse tweeted:
Don’t miss a special surprise from @JustinBieber for an inspiring guest on #TheDoctors !
— Rich Cruse (@RichCruseOnTV) January 29, 2015
Shortly after that first tweet, he revealed the 16-year-old home explosion survivor’s name.
Watch @justinbieber surprise Kilee this Thursday on @TheDoctors ! #TheDoctors
— Rich Cruse (@RichCruseOnTV) February 2, 2015
Given the news of the Biebs’ spot on The Doctors , it’s likely it was his encounter with Kilee that inspired his mysterious tweet on Wednesday, January 29.
Justin wrote,
Met someone really special today. Her strength inspires me
— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) January 30, 2015
That same day, the singer also appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show , to celebrate the host’s 57th birthday.
After taping the program, Justin posted an emotional video directed to his fans. During the clip, which he shared to his Fahlo and Facebook accounts, the singer confessed, “I’m not who I was pretending to be.”
He went on to say, “I think I was nervous because I was afraid of what people are thinking about me right now. It’s been a minute since I’ve been in a public appearance, and I didn’t want to come off arrogant or conceited or basically how I’ve been acting the past year and a half.”
Justin Bieber fans expressed their support by trending “WeDontJudgeYouJustin” for hours on Twitter almost immediately after the singer posted the video.
While some cynics have expressed doubts about the singer’s sincerity in his video, others applauded Bieber for taking responsibility for his past behavior and openly acknowledging it.
There may even be some who will be cynical about Bieber’s appearance on The Doctors . However, the singer’s outreach and charitable efforts are legitimate and well-established over many years.
In an insightful article that noted the still continuing cyber-bullying and media body/gender shaming of Bieber, The Kansas City Star’s Jeneé Osterheldt, wrote about the issue.
“Bieber seems to be taking responsibility now. But the apology tour can stop here.
“Going forward, he owes himself forgiveness and a chance to escape the tragic child star narrative… Maybe everyone will be a little slower to… judge and quicker to act right. Not just toward celebrities, but toward one another.”
The Doctors airs Thursday at 2:00 pm EST on CBS/check local listings for your network.
Update: Justin posted an Instagram late Monday of himself with Kilee on The Doctors set, which he captioned, “Met this inspiring young lady Kylie! She is so special!”
[Images via Instagram]