They say it takes a town to raise a child, and it seems Katy Perry has inadvertently crafted a new saying – it takes a small army to create a Disney Princess.
The 27-year-old pop singer transformed into Ariel from The Little Princess for the Disney week themed episode of American Idol over the weekend.
She was rolled out onto the American Idol stage on Sunday by her co-judges Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie as the remaining 10 finalists of the current season 20 prepared to belt out a number of Disney anthems.
But all eyes were on Katy as she appeared on the show in a huge, plastic, red wig, purple shell bikini top, and a long green fish tail.
Taking to Instagram after her appearance on US TV, Katy showed that she needed the help of five people to help her get into her fish tail.
One snap showed Katy laying on the floor as designers and make-up artists helped her squeeze into the body-tight outfit which was created by a company called The MerNation, while her eye-catching cartoon-ish wig was created by a company called Fabulous Phoamy.
Footage shared by the star showed the team barely managing to get her into her costume without everyone laughing.
Sounding like she was in childbirth, Katy shouted “Push!” desperately as they tried to pull the material around her – while the star’s adorable dog Nugget, dressed as a shark, sat beside her.
Hair stylist Rick Henry found himself at the opposite end of Katy as he sat on her fish tail as stylist Heather Picchiottino, make-up artist Michael Anthony and stylist Zoe Heller delicately moved the material around the singer.
Drag performer Philmah Bocks also assisted with the project, having helped Katy get her outfit commissioned to be made.
Other behind-the-scenes snaps and videos showed Katie posing with a fork as she got into her character as The Little Mermaid’s Ariel.
In tribute to the Disney character, the fork – or dinglehopper, as Ariel called them in the classic animated film – was damaged.
While other snaps showed the singer being carried around by co-host Luke and wheeled around on a sack trolley to get her to and from the stage.
While Katy stunned in her costume, she ended up looking like a fish out of water when she spectacularly fell off her chair during the airing of the episode.
Show host Ryan Seacrest looked on in horror as he presented to the stage while a huge thud could be heard echoing around the studio.
Cameras cut to show Katy lying on her back with her tail fin in the air – while music legend Lionel came inches from death as Katy had been brandishing her fork near his face a split second before she fell over backwards towards him.
Sharing a highlight of the incident from the night on her main Instagram page, Katy also shared a photo of the fork, writing: “what almost accidentally killed @lionelrichie.”
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