When Katy Perry Called Out Her Teenage Crush During a Performance at Her Old School

Katy Perry has surprised us in several instances, but one incident that went viral in 2010 stands out. During a performance at her old school in Santa Barbara, California, she playfully teased a former crush she spotted in the audience. Perry was entertaining current and former students at Dos Pueblos High School when she noticed Shane Lopes, a classmate from her past. As The Daily Telegraph reported during a break, she said: "Is that Shane Lopes? You were the most popular kid in my class! But you never wanted to date me, it was always Amanda Wayne."

She added, "Oh yeah, you really chose right honey. What’s up? What’s up now, player? I’m going to dedicate this next one to Shane Lopes everyone." She proceeded to strum her guitar and performed her hit song Ur So Gay. Perry's reference to her high school crush was sarcastic and later Lopes revealed that he found it both "kinda embarrassing" but "cool." As reported by Radar Online, he said, “I turned red when she called out my name, I mean there’s only so much I can say because I didn’t have the microphone so I couldn’t form a rebuttal or talk any crap back. I thought that would be kind of funny if I was on stage and we were going back and forth.”

Lopes confessed, “I thought it was pretty cool. I haven’t seen her in a while. We went to elementary school together…I just know her as Katy Hudson so to see her as the famous Katy Perry is kinda hilarious!" He added, “I was just sort of giving non-verbal reactions to all the things she said, I was mostly laughing. But I wasn’t able to talk to her in person. I really wanted to but I had to go to football practice at the high school. I wanted to say ‘What’s up!’” Speaking about being Perry's crush, Lopes said, “That whole story is pretty fabricated. I never got the feeling that she had a crush on me. We’ve always been friends."

He added, "I think it was more for entertainment and she was figuring out a way to segue into her next song and kinda embarrass me just for fun. I didn’t expect it, but I wasn’t shocked because that’s just her personality. She’s always been that way—very outspoken, goofy and she’s just a funny girl. It’s no different than the Katy I knew before.” Furthermore, praising Perry, Lopes said, “I can speak for the rest of the class when I say we all knew she had a gift so I wasn’t surprised when she came out with a hit. Not everyone can say they know someone that famous, but with her personality and talent I remember thinking to myself when I was younger ‘Maybe she has a chance, maybe it’s a star in the making.’”

Meanwhile, Perry began her performance wearing the school's cheerleading uniform. She said, "I was on this very stage many lunchtimes. I was such a showoff. There was a pumpkin pie-eating contest, which I won, and a freestyling contest that I lost. That was one of the saddest days of my life." She also encouraged young students who might find school challenging. She said, "High school can be tough, but you know what? You’re stronger than that." After that, she returned to performing her popular songs, starting with Waking Up In Vegas, followed by Teenage Dream.