Todrick Hall ‘Won’t Come Off YouTube’ Despite His New MTV Show

Todrick Hall has no plans to leave YouTube anytime soon. The digital star told reporters during the Television Critics Association summer press tour he won’t “come off” YouTube just because he has his upcoming show Todrick for MTV in the works.

According to Deadline, Hall, who appeared on season nine of American Idol back in 2010, told reporters the reason he didn’t make it on that show was because he was too afraid to be himself. Hall assumed the best singer would win, but the show’s executives told him, “It’s not a talent competition, it’s a television show and people have to fall in love with you as a person.”

Hall left the reality series realizing he could “put a lot of the fight in me to come back and re-represent myself… to let audiences see the real me” by making YouTube videos. And viewers certainly did see and have come to like the real Todrick Hall. The singer and entertainer currently boasts over 1.6 million subscribers on his YouTube channel.

“I really don’t want to come off YouTube,” Hall explained to reporters, clarifying how doing so would “make me lose my street cred.” The former American Idol contestant said he brands himself as a YouTuber, and so his fans need to see him on the digital video platform. Overall, though, Hall said MTV has been very understanding of this positioning, and the performer hopes his digital life can weave into whatever other projects he works on in TV or radio in the future.

Produced by Brian Graden Media, the first season of MTV’s documentary series Todrick will boast eight episodes and will follow Hall and his team as they create and produce weekly music videos. Hall’s manager Scooter Braun will executive produce the linear TV show alongside Hall and Danny Rose. Danny Salles, Louis Curren, Gauray Misra, and former MTV programming president Brian Graden also serve as executive producers.

The first episode of Todrick debuts on MTV on August 31, 2015.