These were posted on the AI message board. Either Mario's gay, or his girlfriend is pregnant and he wants to be there for her. Talk about covering the spectrum.
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A lot of contracts have a "morality clause" which states that a performer is not allowed to do anything "indecent" during the run of his contract.

Now, Rosie O'Donnell has stated publically that she had to sign one for her talk show, basically promising to keep silent about her homosexuality until the demise of the show.

If indeed Mario is gay (and the rumors about him seem almost too specific to be ignored) then perhaps he did not want to be silent, did not want to date a "beard", did not want to deny who he is.

If that is true, that he would rather be free to be Mario than become the American Idol and all the gold that comes with that...

...it makes him a bit of a hero, don't you think?
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Mario is going to be a dad! He wants to be there for his girlfriend through her preganancy and being on American Idol would conflict with that since he'd be out in LA and his girlfriend is back in NYC. I think it's very noble that Mario is choosing his child over American Idol. People should give him props for this. Good luck to you Mario!