I knew he was a creep...

American Idol contestant, David Hernandez, who has given me the creeps since I first saw him used to be a male stripper in Phoenix.


According to a report by the Associated Press, David Hernandez appeared fully nude and performed lap dances for the club's "mostly male" clientele, club manager Gordy Bryan told the news wire service.

“He had the look and the type that people like, so he made pretty good money here,” Bryan said.

Bryan claims Hernandez — who hails from Glendale, Arizona — worked at the strip club, Dick's Cabaret, for three years until the end of September 2007.

Rumors of a stripper past — along with photos of a scantily clad Hernandez working as a bartender at gay nightclub Burn — were first posted last week on VoteForTheWorst.com, a site that encourages “Idol” viewers to vote for “the bad and truly entertaining contestants.”

Hernandez, who originally auditioned for “Idol” in San Diego on July 30, 2007, is in the Fox singing competition’s top 16 contestants. Last week, he earned rave reviews from the judges after his performance of The Temptations’ “Papa Was a Rolling Stone.”

He is scheduled to perform with the other male contestants on Tuesday’s show.

It is unclear how the revelations of his previous experience will impact his appearence on the Fox series. In 2003, finalist Frenchie Davis was dismissed because of her appearance on an adult Web site; but last year, Antonella Barba remained in the competition after racy photos of her surfaced on the Internet.

Hernandez recently revealed on "American Idol" that he is living out of his car. In his profile on the show's website he states: "I currently live out of my car because I gave up my apartment to move to Hollywood." (Source: NY Daily News)