Heavy/Getty HunterGirl performs at CMA Fest in June 2023
Ever since season 20 “American Idol” winner Noah Thompson and runner-up HunterGirl rose to the top two spots on the show in 2022, rumors have been rampant about the two country singers becoming a couple. The buzz escalated after their season finale amid signs that Thompson and his girlfriend Angel Dixon, with whom he shares two-year-old son Walker, had broken up.
Though Thompson has insisted he and HunterGirl were just friends, the rumor mill started churning again in April 2023 when the two singers returned to “Idol” to perform a duet version of his hit song, “One Day Tonight,” which they’ve since released as a single. Thompson has also moved from his hometown of Louisa, Kentucky, to live full-time in Nashville, where HunterGirl also lives.
Some of Thompson’s most rabid fans have even expressed anger toward HunterGirl, wanting her to “stay away” from him. But the 25-year-old singer has now addressed the latest buzz in a new interview, laughing off the rumors and maintaining that they’ve never had a romantic relationship. Here’s what you need to know:
HunterGirl Replies to Rumors of Romance With Noah Thompson: ‘We Were Never Together’
Shortly after season 20 of “Idol” ended, Thompson posted photos and videos of himself in Nashville for writing sessions, record label meetings and hangouts with friends including HunterGirl, which was enough for some fans to suspect their friendship had turned romantic. Their subsequent concert tour and his apparent breakup with the mother of his son in the summer of 2022 further fueled the rumors.
Thompson has never officially confirmed his breakup with Dixon, who appeared multiple times on “Idol” during his run on the show, but they stopped following each other on social media in July 2022 and he deleted all photos of her in his Instagram feed. The rising country star moved to Nashville in early 2023, but did appear in photos Dixon posted on Facebook of a birthday celebration for their son on May 9. She now follows both Thompson and HunterGirl on Instagram, but he still doesn’t follow her.
With the release of Thompson and HunterGirl’s duet, which is a new version of his first hit single, fans have been increasingly suspicious of their relationship. On May 15, Thompson posted an Instagram video in which HunterGirl peeks around a lamp post to tease their duet. While many of Thompson’s fans were thrilled to see them team up on a tune, there were also many who were upset about the pairing, wanting him to have nothing to do with her.
“Hunter girl needs to go away,” one wrote on the post, while another commented, “Noah can go on his own way without stupid Hunter.”
HunterGirl isn’t letting any of the rumors or backlash faze her. In an interview on Evan Paul’s “Taste of Country Nights” radio show released on June 12, he played a clip for her of Thompson replying in August 2022 to the swirling rumors about them.
He said, “We had our trailers side-by-side, that’s not something we picked. We became close, man. We talked about how one person was feeling this way, or I was feeling this way, whatever. You know, man, she was just kind of there for me and I was there for her. We just became best friends, man, and I love her to death. But we not together by no means.”
After listening to the audio clip, Paul asked HunterGirl if there had ever been “any sort of intimacy whatsoever” between them.
“No,” she replied, “we were never together. I think it was just being the top two (on “Idol”) and then coming off into that tour and stuff. You know, there’s always going to be people talking and stuff, but no. No.”
“He’s such a good guy,” HunterGirl continued. “He’s one of my really good friends and, honestly, it was good to have somebody to talk to coming off the show and coming back to Nashville and trying to figure your life out.”
HunterGirl Has Grown Used to ‘People Being Mean’ Online
With a year of fame under her belt, HunterGirl has grown accustomed to online rumors and social media trolls picking her apart for everything from her relationship with Thompson to her “fluffy” eyebrows, she told Paul during their interview.
HunterGirl said, “Oh my god, it was funny just because some people were commenting like, ‘Yo, what’s going on with your eyebrows?’ I’m like, ‘Dude, I’ve always had, like, thicker eyebrows. I can’t help it!’ I looked up to Brooke Shields as a kid! People are just being mean and I was like, ‘Dude … I’m comfortable with it.’ I was like, ‘I’m good with it, like, I’m not mad about it!'”
The singer-songwriter, who released the new single “Lonely Outta You” in May with a tongue-in-cheek music video, said she’s found a great deal of support from her peers in Nashville, telling Paul that stars like Mitchell Tenpenny and Lainey Wilson have been particularly helpful.
She said, “I think Nashville is such a cool place because it feels like everybody’s cheering you on and if something’s going wrong, or anything happens, they’re just like everybody’s a phone call away.”
According to her record label BBR, which also represents Thompson, HunterGirl is hitting the road this summer for concert dates with country superstars Parmalee, Josh Turner and Luke Combs as well as “Idol” judge Luke Bryan.