'American Idol' Contestant Opens Up About First Kiss With Katy Perry

As Katy Perry continues to court controversy following the moment she forced a teenage boy into his first kiss during the 'American Idol' auditions, the budding musician in question has opened up about how he felt about the situation. Needless to say, it wasn't the most comfortable moment of his life.

When 19-year-old Benjamin Glaze told judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan that he loves working in an electronics store so that he can say hi to cute girls, Luke went on to ask if he'd 'kissed a girl and liked it', in reference to the Katy Perry song 'I Kissed A Girl'.

'I've never been in a relationship', he said shyly. 'I can't kiss a girl without being in a relationship.'

Katy then insisted he come over to her and kiss her on the cheek, and he did so rather reluctantly. When she protested that he didn't make a smooch sound, he went in for another peck on the cheek, at which point Katy turned her head and caught him on the lips. Benjamin was so shocked that he collapsed to the groun

'Katy!' He shouted. 'You didn't! Well, that's a first.' He looked a little flushed in the cheeks before jokingly asking: 'How was it?'

He tried to begin his audition but found himself still a little shaken and asked for a glass of water. 'I kind of wasn't expecting that', he explained. Lionel Richie tried to comfort him and reiterated that Katy Perry was his first kiss, to which he joked: 'That's going up on the fridge!'

In the end, Benjamin failed to impress the judges with his voice - whether or not that was down to the extra level of nerves that was laid on him a few minutes beforehand is unclear, but it's safe to say that that kiss was a rite of passage he was intending to save for his first love.

'I was a tad bit uncomfortable', he told the New York Times. 'I wanted to save it for my first relationship. I wanted it to be special. Would I have done it if she said, 'Would you kiss me?' No, I would have said no. I know a lot of guys would be like, 'Heck yeah!' But for me, I was raised in a conservative family and I was uncomfortable immediately. I wanted my first kiss to be special.'

Plenty of people have taken to social media to slam Katy Perry's actions, drawing parallels to the #MeToo movement and raising the question: would it have been different if it was a male judge and a female contestant? But Benjamin wouldn't go that far himself.

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'I'm glad she did it because it's a great opportunity to get my music out', he said, and he added that this supposed 'first kiss' didn't really count anyway. 'It was lip contact versus a romantic situation with someone you care about', he said. 'That's what a real first kiss is.'