Lionel Richie Calls King Charles a 'Secret Comedian' Who Has an 'Amazing Sense of Humor'
"For him to actually take the step and go out of the comfort zone — which was actually his comfort zone — he was hamming it up," Richie said of King Charles' American Idol appearance
It appears King Charles is quite the comedian.
Lionel Richie shared in an interview with Extra published Monday that the newly crowned King's "amazing sense of humor" sealed the deal for his and Queen Camilla's American Idol debut.
"I've known the King quite a long time. He does have this amazing sense of humor that no one knows about. He's a secret comedian," Richie, 73, revealed.
"For him to actually take the step and go out of the comfort zone — which was actually his comfort zone — he was hamming it up," he said of King Charles agreeing to appear on American Idol.
In fact, the Grammy Award-winning musician — who attended the crowning ceremony and headlined the coronation concert — told Extra, "The highlight for me was that I actually walked up to the King the day after the coronation and said, 'Would you like to be on American Idol and he said, 'Yeah.'"
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"And the second thing that was the highlight was he said, 'Alright if I bring the Queen?' 'Uh, yeah,'" recalled Richie.
He added of King Charles, 74, and Queen Camilla, 75: "They are an amazing couple. On top of that, they are putting so much good out in the world with the Prince's Trust." Richie was appointed the First Global Ambassador and First Chairman of the Global Ambassador Group for The Prince's Trust in 2019.
Related:Lionel Richie Says It's an 'Honor' to Perform at 'Wonderful' King Charles' Coronation (Exclusive)
The royals joined Idol judges Richie and Katy Perry on the show for a surprise appearance on the May 7 episode after the singers performed at the coronation concert earlier this month.
In April, Richie chatted with PEOPLE at the Breakthrough Awards in Los Angeles about what the royal invite meant to him.
"I mean, you don't get in the business and say, 'You know what? I'll be at the King's coronation.' You know, that just never comes up," Richie said. "[It's] A, a surprise. B, what an honor. And C, the fact of all the names that are out there that he could have had for this, he called my name."
Related:Lionel Richie Says He's 'Like a Kid at Christmas' Ahead of Coronation Weekend: 'Pinch Me!'
For the historical show, Richie performed his Commodores hit "Easy" before singing his dance party hit, "All Night Long." Perry sang "Roar" and dedicated her performance of "Firework" to King Charles.
The event was attended by 20,000 members of the public from across the U.K. and members of the royal family. The concert was hosted by Downton Abbey and Paddington actor Hugh Bonneville.
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