Paula Abdul’s life as she turns 62 – fan’s death outside home to American Idol ‘affair’

Straight Up pop music heavyweight Paula Abdul is a total icon who is full of sass and song and captured hearts on American Idol.

Hailing from San Fernando, California, this starlet who turns 62 today (June 19) was the apple of Harry and Lorraine Abdul’s eye, finding her rhythm in dance classes at just eight. She aced the moves for Michael Jackson’s ‘Torture’ vid in ’84 and then smashed the charts with her own banger in 1988.

Paula has been dazzling us ever since she barged into the limelight and set down roots there. She became a household name as the soft-hearted judge on American Idol back in 2001, sitting right next to big shots Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson.

READ MORE: ‘I’ve slept with hundreds of guys for career – now my parents vote for me to win awards’

There’s lots of quality news coming out of the US.

And Paula celebrates her 62nd birthday, the Daily Star spills the beans on her life’s juicy bits.

Battling agony

Before she shook the world with her killer dance routines, Paula was a cheerleader for the LA Lakers.

She had already been a high-school cheerleader, where she suffered a nasty neck injury when she was 17, by slipping a disc.

Throughout the nineties Paula struggled with constant pain, until she was finally diagnosed with a Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, and started taking Enbrel to relieve the symptoms.

Delighted about her health turnaround, Paula once told to Entertainment Tonight: “I’m dancing for joy at the fact that not even a year ago, I was in so much pain I could barely get up.”

Super-fan dies outside Abdul’s home

In November 2008, Paula’s swanky LA pad was wrapped up in a sinister death riddle.

The star, who has gone through two divorces, was “deeply shocked and saddened” by the news of Paula Goodspeed, a former American Idol contestant, being found dead in her car near her residence.

The young lady tried out for American Idol three years ago and was a self-proclaimed super-fan of Paula Abdul. She even changed her first name to match the singer’s.

It was later confirmed that Goodspeed had died from suicide by overdose, with the police having previously suspected her of stalking Paula, according to The Associated Press.

Talking about Goodspeed’s death, Paula later admitted she had pleaded with American Idols not to let her audition for the show after recognising her name.

She claimed Goodspeed had written her “disturbing letters” over the previous 18 years and told Rolling Stone: “I said, ‘This girl is a stalker of mine. Please do not let her in’. Everyone knew. I was shaking.”

American Idol ‘affair’

Paula has consistently denied having an affair with disqualified American Idol contestant Corey Clark. Even so, Corey went ahead and revealed supposed information about their alleged meetings in court.

The contestant who was axed from the show filed a lawsuit against the US television network E! due to an E! True Hollywood Story based on Paula’s life.

Clark complained an updated version of the special, which aired in 2005, “gave the impression” he was lying about his claims of a sexual relationship with the judge.

In legal papers, it says: “Clark now alleges that the updated [programme] treated him unfairly in that it left viewers with the impression that he was not telling the truth when he alleged he had a sexual relationship with Abdul.”

In his legal battle, Clark claims he was “unfairly characterised” by suggestions that producers kicked him off the show due to his past run-ins with the law.

Under oath, Clark also hinted at steamy “doggy-style” romps with Paula and cheekily claimed she “shaved” her intimate areas.

In 2014, he was unable to win a $40million defamation lawsuit he filed against MTV and Viacom over comments made by a reporter over the coverage of his departure from American Idol.

Legal battle with former co-judge

In December 2023 Abdul filed a lawsuit that remains ongoing against British television executive heavyweight Nigel Lythgoe, over alleged sexual assault.

Abdul claims sexual assault and battery took place on two separate occasions, while she was working for the 74-year-old between 2002 and 2015 on American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance.

Mr Lythgoe, who was an executive producer of the singing talent show and a co-judge on the dancing programme, told the US media he was “shocked” by the allegations.

He insisted the relationship between the two has always been one of “dear, and entirely platonic, friends and colleagues”. Mr Lythgoe denies all allegations.

The court filing states that Ms Abdul has remained silent for years due to “fear of speaking out against one of the most well-known producers of television competition shows who could easily break her career”.

Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk