Clay Aiken Won’t Take Advantage Of His ‘Claymates’

Women are so moved by Clay Aiken’s presence that they hurl their panties onstage as if he were Elvis, which mystifies the ‘American Idol’ runner-up. “Ruben always jokes with me that I could have any woman out there,” Aiken told Elle magazine. “He says, ‘You need to hook up with somebody before you leave the tour.’ But I try and explain that that’s not what this is about for me. The reason women like me, I think, is because I don’t threaten them. I realize Ruben’s right, I probably could…” — he pauses and blushes — “…you know, but I respect women more than that.”

After wrinkling his brow and shaking his head, Clay continued, “I am extremely flattered. There are some gorgeous women who are ‘in love with me,’ but I think taking advantage of that is wrong.”

Besides, Aiken is a man who takes sex seriously. “I was raised by my mother and grandmothers, and a lot of what I am is because I wanted to be different from my birth father. He was a womanizer, when I would go to visit him, there would be a different woman over there every time. I thought that was really tacky.”

Clay Aiken Ready To Step Out On His Own

September 8, 2003 - Us Weekly caught up with the guys from ‘American Idol’ as their tour wrapped up, though that doesn’t mean downtime for Clay, whose solo album is due October 14th. He says, “As much as I love this group and want to stay in touch as long as I can, I am ready to finally step out on my own.” Though Aiken won’t be totally on his own, as he and Kimberley Locke plan to be roommates in Los Angeles. “Mom doesn’t want me far away,” Clay admits, “but she’s supportive.”

Clay Aiken Insists No Beef With Ruben Studdard

September 3, 2003 - Clay is on the cover of the latest Entertainment Weekly as part of their Guilty Pleasures feature. Aiken would like to put the Clay versus Ruben (who won the Fox hit show) showdown to rest. ”The whole country wants Ruben and me to be at each other’s throats,” he said. “We spent nine months competing with each other. And we both got what we wanted. He’s got a title, and I’m nothing but proud of him. We don’t look at who’s No. 1 and No. 2. Because it’s not worth it to us.” The full story at EW.com has since been removed.