Phillip Phillips on E!News [full interview]

Phillip Phillips Pushing Himself to Get Healthy and Strong Again Post-Surgery

Thank goodness he’s OK.

American Idol‘s latest winner, Phillip Phillips, is currently recovering after enduring his sixth surgery for kidney stones, and although he’s told E! News he’s pushing himself to get healthy and strong again, Phillips shares that his comeback is promising.

“I’m doing good, just been recovering and just taking it easy,” the singer tells us. “But also pushing myself to get my strength back and just get some energy back.”

He says that doctors were surprised by how well he’s recovering, which is always a good sign.

“I’m surprised myself,” he exclaims. “Even the doctors are surprised how well it’s coming along. They’ve been helping me—I just need to keep pushing myself.”

Things didn’t look so rosy, though, when this ordeal all began.

“It started last year, during the summer,” he recalls. “I went to the doctor and they found out it was kidney stones, so they had surgery done to help get those out and to pass them…More just kept coming in. So I had all together before the last show…I had like five surgeries.”

He admits that the pain was so excruciating it hurt to bend over or sit up for too long, and even though he hated it, Phillips took painkillers to try and ease what he was feeling.

But when it came to finale nights, the former contestant’s fear of getting booted from American Idol overshadowed any physical pain he could’ve felt.

“Even if I might have been in pain, I wasn’t thinking about it because I was such in awe,” he shares. “I was so shocked.”

And the silver lining to the whole thing? He got out of dancing.

You can catch Phillip Phillips performing during his summer tour, which kicks off next week.

Credits: E!News