Benjamin Glaze started dating his girlfriend Carrie after he tried out for "Idol" in October.
The American Idol contestant who received his first kiss got from judge Katy Perry is now defending her after the situation struck an uncomfortable chord with some viewers.
"I was slightly uncomfortable only because of the fact that she was a stranger,” Benjamin Glaze told Inside Edition. “It wasn't that she was older; it wasn't the fact that I was creeped out by it, or feeling like I’d been taken advantage of. It was just unexpected.
"I just wanted it not to be a complete stranger. Obviously it is not a complete stranger... Katy Perry isn't a stranger. I just wanted my first kiss to be someone I knew personally."
In the age of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, many viewers felt what the “I Kissed a Girl” singer did was inappropriate after she blindsided him with a kiss in Sunday night's season premiere Sunday night.
"It was a forced sexual act," was one comment on social media.
"Imagine if this was from a male judge,” was another.
But others said Glaze was "lucky" for being in the enviable position of getting a kiss from a pop star.
Glaze, who works as a cashier at an electronics store in Oklahoma, now has a girlfriend and says they started dating after his American Idol tryout in October.
His girlfriend, Carrie, says it's "cool" that he got kissed by Perry.
"He kissed a celebrity — how great for him," she said.
Glaze says that “Katy Perry was my first kiss" however, the initial smooch he had with Carrie is his real primary one.
"If you really sat me down and asked me, I would tell you about how our first kiss was and it was just as special as I wanted it to be," he added.
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