“It’s officially true,” Paul McDonald confirmed what the gossip columnists have suspected for the past several weeks. Fresh from his Thursday elimination from American Idol, McDonald confirmed that he’s dating Twilight’s Nikki Reed.

Paul never stopped smiling during his exit interview. His luck in love has apparently taken the sting from his Idol rejection. “When I first tried out for [the show], it was just kind of for fun, and I didn’t even expect to get this far in the competition.”

He’ll be moving forward with his music post-elimination. “I’ve been writing tons of material while I’m out here… I’ve been focusing a bunch on writing and working hard on stuff that’s coming out after Idol.”

We just hope he’s got a few more jacket designs up his sleeve, too.

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