Britani Bateman from RHOSLC Surprises Niece at Her American Idol Audition
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Britani Bateman supported her niece Carmen Lorell Martin during her audition for American Idol.
“I have an announcement,” Britani, 54, declared while performing her signature Housewives gesture — clinking a wine glass with a butter knife — on the February 2 episode of the ABC singing competition. “This is my beautiful niece.”
Britani then sang Carmen’s nickname, Carmenlita, in an operatic style. After introducing her niece to the judges, she inquired if they were familiar with her own career.
“Do you know me?” Britani asked. “I’m Britani. Britani Bateman.”
None of the judges, Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie, and Carrie Underwood, responded. Carmen, 20, enlightened them about her aunt’s connection to Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. When the judges remained unaware of Britani, she shifted the focus back to Carmen.
“This is not about me,” Britani said. “This is about my amazing, gorgeous, perfect niece who you’re about to hear. It’s insane.”
Carmen then performed her version of “Thought It Was Love” by Ty Meyers, accompanying herself on the piano. Her performance brought Britani to tears and garnered applause from the judges.
Carrie complimented Carmen on her “really pretty voice” and suggested infusing more “oomph” into her performance. Carmen decided to sing another song, this time as a duet with Britani, who has a background in Broadway. They performed “Let Me Be Your Star” from the TV series Smash.
After their duet, Carmen and Britani received applause from the judges. Ultimately, Carmen secured a Golden Ticket and advanced to Hollywood Week.
“The only way to put you in a brawl is to say yes so you can move on to the next level and meet the rest of this crazy class and understand what this means,” Lionel remarked.
Before her audition, Carmen expressed how much she has admired her aunt over the years.
“Britani has always been a huge mentor for me to step out,” she shared. “She has her own spotlight. She’s living out her dream, and that’s why I’m here too.”
This isn’t the first time a celebrity relative has joined a loved one for their American Idol audition. Last year, Backstreet Boys’ Brian Littrell’s son Baylee Littrell auditioned for the show and was accompanied by his dad for a duet.
Britani is best recognized for her role on RHOSLC since season 5. She joined the Bravo franchise in 2024 as a friend of the housewives. Alongside her role on RHOSLC, Britani has been pursuing musical projects as well. In December 2024, she released a Christmas EP. The following year, she made her cabaret debut with her show, What About Me: An Evening With Britani Bateman, in New York City.
“This has been in the works for a year,” Bateman shared exclusively with Us Weekly in October 2025 regarding her shows. “I’m excited to see Luann [de Lesseps] at BravoCon and maybe convince her to join me for a performance.”
American Idol season 24 airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET and streams on Hulu the following day.
