{"id":8096,"date":"2026-03-04T10:33:51","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T10:33:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/?p=8096"},"modified":"2026-03-04T10:34:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T10:34:52","slug":"i-had-to-read-it-twice-thats-how-25-year-old-mom-of-three-hannah-harper-described-the-private-message-that-popped-up-on-her-phone-just-days-after-her-audition-on-american","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/?p=8096","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI had to read it twice.\u201d  That\u2019s how 25-year-old mom of three Hannah Harper described the private message that popped up on her phone just days after her audition on American Idol.  The sender? None other than Lauren Alaina.  According to Hannah, the Idol alum reached out with a \u201csuper encouraging\u201d DM, praising her courage and reminding her that balancing motherhood and chasing a dream isn\u2019t something to apologize for \u2014 it\u2019s something to be proud of. The message was brief, personal, and completely unexpected.  For a stay-at-home mother who nearly didn\u2019t audition, that quiet note of support hit harder than any judge\u2019s comment.  What exactly did Lauren say \u2014 and why did it leave Hannah in disbelief? See the full message and her reaction below \ud83d\udc47"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Hannah Harper may not be the winner of American Idol season 24 just yet, but she sure has already stolen the hearts of many people across the country, including Lauren Alaina.<\/p>\n<p>Fans will recall that the 25-year-old contestant and stay-at-home mother of three young boys stood in front of Idol judges Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie, auditioning for the reality competition series with her original song, \u201cString Cheese.\u201d The incredibly touching self-penned tune captures the raw, often unspoken experiences of women who have gone through Postpartum Depression.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-4\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/musicmayhemmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Lauren-Alaina-Reacting-To-Hannah-Harper-Photo-Courtesy-of-Instagram-2.jpg\" alt=\"Lauren Alaina Reacting To Hannah Harper; Photo Courtesy of Instagram\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Although it\u2019s unclear if Alaina has struggled with Postpartum Depression herself, she is a new mom who, with her husband Cam Arnold, welcomed her daughter Beni Doll Arnold into the world less than a year ago. Upon hearing Harper\u2019s \u201cString Cheese,\u201d the Season 10 runner-up of American Idol was overcome with emotion.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-5\"><\/div>\n<p>Alaina shared her reaction just days after Harper\u2019s audition aired, writing on Instagram: \u201c8 months postpartum, hearing this song for the first time has me in a puddle. @hannahharper thank you for writing this song for us mommas. I can\u2019t wait to watch your journey. I\u2019m rooting for you every step of the way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For Harper, that public show of support meant everything.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Hannah Harper - String Cheese (American Idol Golden Ticket Winner!)\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FMO3HvT7IKY?feature=oembed\" width=\"350\" height=\"235\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-origwidth=\"790\" data-origheight=\"444\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hadn\u2019t seen the video when Lauren first posted it. I had been tagged in it several times, and then she messaged me and was super encouraging. It was just like she\u2019s rooting for me; she wants to meet me. And so that\u2019s cool. I freaked out,\u201d Harper said in an interview with Music Mayhem while opening up about Alaina\u2019s reaction. \u201cI was fangirling over that, but that\u2019s just another person who has come out of the other side of Idol with a career, and so I look up to her a lot in that sense. And she\u2019s a new mama, so I thought it was really neat that she shared it and could relate to the song also.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/musicmayhemmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Hannah-Harper-Photo-Courtesy-of-American-Idol-_-ABC.jpg\" alt=\"Hannah Harper; Photo Courtesy of American Idol \/ ABC\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Alaina wasn\u2019t the only one who connected to the song.<\/p>\n<p>Just her reaction video alone drew several heartfelt comments from followers. One person wrote, \u201cThis song has all us mamas a mess. So, so true. Every single word.\u201d Another person shared, \u201cIt hit home even for me, whose babies are 25 and 27! It touched my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, a third follower added, \u201cHannah Harper is a Mama of 3 boys, and this song resonates with every mother. It needs to be our Mother\u2019s Day song this year, and oh my, I cried too\u2026 my kids are grown now, and I miss these days\u2026 definitely a \u2018grab your tissue\u2019 song.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-43552 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/spotlightfocus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Hannah-Harper-Shares-Heartwarming-Message-From-Lauren-Alaina-After-Her-American-Idol-Audition-That-Left-the-Young-Mom-Stunned.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 813px) 100vw, 813px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spotlightfocus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Hannah-Harper-Shares-Heartwarming-Message-From-Lauren-Alaina-After-Her-American-Idol-Audition-That-Left-the-Young-Mom-Stunned.jpg 813w, https:\/\/spotlightfocus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Hannah-Harper-Shares-Heartwarming-Message-From-Lauren-Alaina-After-Her-American-Idol-Audition-That-Left-the-Young-Mom-Stunned-300x162.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spotlightfocus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Hannah-Harper-Shares-Heartwarming-Message-From-Lauren-Alaina-After-Her-American-Idol-Audition-That-Left-the-Young-Mom-Stunned-768x415.jpg 768w\" alt=\"\" width=\"813\" height=\"439\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The outpouring of support has been overwhelming for Harper, who grew up singing bluegrass and Christian music and carries a sound reminiscent of Alison Krauss, Kacey Musgraves, and even Dolly Parton.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wish I could answer every single message\u2026 I haven\u2019t even opened all of them, [and] I mean, it\u2019s just overwhelming,\u201d she admitted. \u201cI wrote the song for myself in that season, and I never thought anyone would hear it, and especially I never thought I would have the opportunity to sing it on a platform like American Idol.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Postpartum depression (PPD) affects approximately 10% to 20% of women globally. In the United States, about 1 in 7 to 1 in 8 new mothers experience PPD symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Cleveland Clinic. But Harper says her song isn\u2019t just for mothers, it\u2019s for all struggling parents.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/countrymusicfamily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Hannah-Harper-800x400.png\" alt=\"Idol&quot; Star Hannah Harper Shares The Sweet Meaning Behind Her &quot;Hollywood Week&quot; Outfit\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnyone in parenthood at all\u2026I know there are a lot of dads who can relate to it,\u201d Harper said. \u201cThe response to the song blew me away. It just gave me a lot of encouragement and a feeling that, in my hardships, there were benefits from it. There are a lot of times that they live in the trench, and they live in the rough, and they don\u2019t see the light at the end of the tunnel. And more so than anything, I just was like, there. There was so much good that came out of that, and I have a story now to share, a testimony, and a lot of other people relate to that. I was excited to be able to do that on that platform. And they did an amazing job putting it all together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/nrlc.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Hannah-Harper.png\" alt=\"The Song That Reminded America That Motherhood Is a Ministry - National Right to Life\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Following her Idol audition, \u201cString Cheese\u201d took off. Not only did the song find a home on the social media pages of others, who used the track to share their own stories, \u201cString Cheese\u201d quickly gained momentum, climbing Billboard\u2019s Country Digital Song Sales chart and debuting at an impressive No. 14 with more than 1,000 units sold. The song also made waves on the Children\u2019s Music iTunes chart, where it ranked above \u201cBaby Shark\u201d by Pinkfong, a surprising and telling achievement that speaks to just how deeply it\u2019s resonating with families everywhere.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSTRING CHEESE is #14 on the Country Music charts.\u00a0<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"emoji\" role=\"img\" draggable=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/17.0.2\/svg\/1f62d.svg\" alt=\"\ud83d\ude2d\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"emoji\" role=\"img\" draggable=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/17.0.2\/svg\/1f90d.svg\" alt=\"\ud83e\udd0d\" \/>\u00a0I truly don\u2019t have words,\u201d Harper wrote in one post on social media. \u201cThank y\u2019all for listening, sharing, and loving this song so big.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Be sure to keep up with Harper\u2019s journey on American Idol on Monday nights at 8\/7c on ABC, and the next day on Hulu.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-1\">\n<div class=\"eyeo\" data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1650984\" data-uid=\"039c3\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hannah Harper may not be the winner of American Idol season 24 just yet, but she sure has already stolen the hearts of many people across the&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8097,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8096"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8096\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8098,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8096\/revisions\/8098"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}