Her disability isn’t getting her down! American Idol hopeful Marna Michele shared with Ryan Seacrest on Friday, March 6, she wants to conquer her dream in a wheel chair to be a role model for others.
The secretary from Costa Mesa, California, was born with a rare disability by the name of arthrogryposis.
“There’s not a lot of role models — I love saying role models because it’s punny as well — but there’s not a lot of role models that are in powered wheel chairs,” Marna shared with Seacrest. “And I’m in a big powered wheelchair and people get distracted by that and then I sing and there like, ‘Oh!’ And they forget about the powered wheel chair so I want to be that icon for people.”
Seacrest teased that Marna does indeed blow the judges away this Sunday on American Idol and that she’s one step closer to her reaching her dream.
“Never give up,” Marna concluded of her experience. “It’s so cliché … but this is my moment of never giving up.”
Listen back to the full interview in the audio above and catch Marna’s audition on American Idol this Sunday on ABC at 8/7c.