‘American Idol’s Maddie Poppe & Caleb Lee Hutchinson: Will Her Win Threaten Their Love?

‘American Idol’s Maddie Poppe & Caleb Lee Hutchinson: Will Her Win Threaten Their Love?

‘American Idol’ finalists Maddie Poppe and Caleb Lee Hutchinson shocked fans with the announcement that they’re dating. With her victory, an expert tells us if their romance could be doomed.

Forget The Bachelor and Bachelorette, as the new place to find love on an ABC reality show has turned out to be American Idol. Finalists Maddie Poppe, 20, and Caleb Lee Hutchinson, 18 dropped the news that they’re dating on the show’s finale May 21, which blew the minds of the judging panel and viewers everywhere. But now that she’s been declared champion and has her own record deal, will their love be able to withstand her success? “It takes a very strong man to maintain a relationship with a woman who has beat him competitively and has also gained financial rewards, as the winner of American Idol does. Winning this competition is going to put her career on an upward trajectory very quickly. So we are gonna cross our fingers and hope Caleb is that kind of strong, secure man that can handle this situation,” Dr. Jenn Mann, author of The Relationship Fix: Dr. Jenn’s 6-Step Guide to Improving Communication, Connection & Intimacy tells HollywoodLife.com EXCLUSIVELY

Caleb took to Instagram immediately after the finale to congratulate his lady on her win. He wrote “MY GIRLFRIEND WON AMERICAN IDOL!!! No one deserved it more than you babe. I am honored to know you and even more honored to call you mine. Don’t forget about me. I love you.” So Caleb has proven he’s strong, but he already seems to know that their romance could be torn apart by her upcoming recording career by asking her not to forget about him..

“They are going to face a lot of challenges. First off when you are on a reality show together, especially one that sequesters you like American Idol does, it puts you in the bubble of the show. It means you are totally immersed in the world of the show. You don’t have to think about getting groceries, or paying rent, or who’s going to make dinner. It’s all taken care of for you so you don’t have to deal with day to say stresses of real life. So now it remains to be seeing if they can handle this relationship in the real world, with the day to day stress of normal every day life,” Dr. Mann continues.

“The second thing is that she won and he did not. So how that impacts the relationship in terms of his ego and finances, as well as how they handle the demands of their growing careers will be a big test for the relationship. In addition, right now they are in the honeymoon period but once they get past the honeymoon stage, which usually happens around 12 – 18 months, they’ll be challenged to see how they navigate that and handle the everyday conflicts and challenges,” Dr. Mann adds.

The couple revealed that they’ve been together for three months after initially clicking during Hollywood Week in January. Caleb told HollywoodLife and other media outlets after the finale that “January 21st was the first day I laid eyes on her. From then on, we haven’t been apart at all.” Now that the show is over, only time will tell if the young lovebirds relationship will be able to go the distance..