ABC/Craig Sjodin; FOXAretha Franklin's not the only boldfaced name pulling for American Idol's Kree Harrison: The season-12 front-runner also has a fan in Idol season-five alum—and current Dancing With the Stars standout—Kellie Pickler.
"She's one of my good friends," reveals Harrison, who met Pickler a couple of years ago through a mutual friend in their adopted hometown of Nashville. "She's a doll. I adore her. She's literally the sweetest woman. She's inspiring in so many ways."
It seems Pickler's also full of good advice on how to survive the overnight fame that comes with being an Idol finalist. "More so than anything, [she said], ‘Stay true to who you are,'" Harrison told us. "I've gotten that a lot because I am a humble person, and that's not going to change. It won't, just because I'm surrounded by such amazing people in my life that wouldn't let me."
Might the two pals be voting for each other in their respective TV competitions? "Yeah!" Harrison says with a laugh. "We've decided that if we win, which I know she's going to win Dancing With the Stars, we're going to go get matching tattoos!"
While they haven't yet settled on what ink they'd get, the pair will likely have plenty of time to figure it out. With Idol and Dancing shooting in adjacent studios in Los Angeles, Harrison and Pickler frequently text each other to arrange meetups during their downtime.
"She's come and met everyone [at Idol], too," Harrison says. And it seems Pickler has grown particularly fond of another unaffected country singer from the South. "She loves Janelle [Arthur]," Harrison says. "They remind me a lot of each other. They're both really witty."