Luke Bryan Thought Lionel Richie Was ‘Lying’ About Bond With Royal Family

Country music superstar Luke Bryan once reacted in disbelief when Lionel Richie revealed that he had a close bond with the British Royals during an episode of American Idol. However, his doubt was recently cleared when the King and Queen made a brief appearance on the show.

During a recent episode of the singing competition, judges Katy Perry and Lionel Richie made a special appearance from Windsor Castle, where they had just performed at King Charles’ Coronation concert. While addressing the audience, they received a surprise visit from King Charles and Queen Camilla, which left their fellow judge Bryan very surprised.

Luke Bryan describes Lionel Richie as a highly influential person

Following the unexpected discovery, Bryan revealed that he had always thought his co-judge was just bluffing about having a link with the royal family. “I always felt Lionel was maybe lying and fibbing a little bit about his relationship with all the royals but I gotta say he’s telling the truth now. It was fun,” he confessed. “It kinda makes me want to sit out next year.”

RELATED: Prince George, Princess Charlotte Adorably Dance To Lionel Richie At Coronation Concert

In a group interview with PEOPLE, Bryan described Richie as a highly influential personality and revealed that he got his hold on popular figures after writing and recording one of his hit songs. “It just shows you the scope and the power of who Lionel Richie [is]. When you think about when Lionel wrote and performed ‘We Are the World,’ that put him in a situation where he wrote a song for the world,” he explained to the news outlet. “Therefore, Lionel went around and met all of these world leaders and stuff. So when you see that he’s developed a relationship with King Charles through the years, to the point where Lionel could ask him to pop by and say hey to everybody.”

King Charles and Queen Camilla surprise American Idol’s audience

At the beginning of the Sunday episode, Katy Perry and Richie, who were at King Charles’s Coronation, shared a prerecorded video with fans and the audience of the popular singing competition. The clip showed King Charles and Queen Camilla joining the two judges. “I just wanted to check how long you would be using this room for,” the King said jokingly, to which the 73-year-old replied, “We have to give the room up right away.”

King Charles also appreciated the duo for the wonderful show they put up at the coronation event. “Thank you so much [for] your brilliant performance,” King Charles said. Queen Camilla also described their performance as “fantastic.”