American Idol season 4 winner and country music superstar Carrie Underwood is about to take her seat at the judging table for American Idol season 23, so fans have been looking back at her twenty-year history with the show, and they’ve noticed a change in her appearance, which is due to her 2017 accident. Since Carrie won American Idol in 2005, she’s become one of the show’s most successful winners and a global superstar. She’s sold 85 million records worldwide and released 28 number one hits, among her many other incredible accomplishments. Now Carrie’s returning to the place where her phenomenal career began, but this time as a judge.
For American Idol season 23, Carrie will take Katy Perry’s place on the panel, alongside Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan. Katy, Lionel, and Luke were the original judging panel when ABC revived American Idol in 2018 after FOX canceled it in 2016. They served as judges for seven years until Katy decided that she wanted to leave in order to focus on her own music career again. Although Katy was beloved, and it was hard to find someone to fill her shoes, Carrie was the perfect person to take her place. Here’s what to know about Carrie’s accident, and how it’s changed her appearance a bit since she won American Idol.
What Happened To Carrie Underwood During Her 2017 Accident?
Carrie Sustained Some Serious Injuries
In November 2017, Carrie fell down the steps outside of her Nashville, Tennessee home while walking her dogs. She broke her wrist, and even needed surgery and physical therapy, but her most serious injury was to her face. Carrie needed 40 to 50 stitches above her lip, both inside and outside of her mouth. The injury even hindered her ability to sing for a while, which delayed her 2018 album, Cry Pretty.
However, since her accident, Carrie has continued to have tremendous success in her career, including her post-injury studio albums, Cry Pretty (2018), My Gift (2020), My Savior (2021), and Denim & Rhinestones (2022). She also headlined the Cry Pretty Tour 360 in 2019 and the Denim & Rhinestones Tour in 2022-2023. In addition, Carrie has a Las Vegas residency, Reflection, which will play through 2025, and will be featured in a special called Carrie Underwood: Reflection. It will be available to stream on Hulu and Disney+ on January 24.
Carrie also performed just before midnight on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest in 2024, joining the American Idol host as they rang in the New Year and welcomed 2025. Carrie’s accident was definitely a setback for her at the time, but she overcame it, and has continued to shine brightly.
What Has Carrie Underwood Said About Her Facial Injury?
Carrie Was Concerned That She Wouldn’t Look The Same
In a 2017 year-end message to her fans shared on her fan club’s official site seven weeks after her accident, (shared by Variety), Carrie shared that, in addition to her wrist injury, there was another part of the story that she hadn’t been ready to talk about because she was still living it and there was much uncertainty about how things would end up. She wrote, “It’s crazy how a freak random accident can change your life. In addition to breaking my wrist, I somehow managed to injure my face as well.”
Carrie went on to say that she’d spare “the gruesome details,” but when she came out of surgery the night of her fall, the doctor told her husband, NHL player Mike Fisher, that “he had put between 40-50 stitches in.” She continued, “Now, here we are 7 weeks later and, even though I’ve had the best people helping me, I’m still healing and not quite looking the same.“
Carrie shared, “I honestly don’t know how things are going to end up but I do know this: I am grateful. I am grateful that it wasn’t much, much worse. And I am grateful for the people in my life that have been there every step of the way. I’ve still got a ways to go in the recovery process, but it’s encouraging to see every day be a little better than the last.”
Carrie explained that she was heading into the studio the following week, and wanted her fans “to understand why I might look a bit different. I’m hoping that, by then, the differences are minimal, but, again, I just don’t know how it’s all going to end up.“
