Clay Aiken Reveals His Son Parker’s Secret Passion, Future Career Path: ‘You’re Gonna Have to Sedate Me’ (Exclusive)

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When Clay Aiken decided to step back from music over a decade ago, he did it for his now-16-year-old son Parker — and he has no regrets. Looking back on those 16 years, the American Idol alum reveals why he thinks raising a son is "happy and heartbreaking at the same time." "I'd say the most wonderful part has been watching him grow into a young man. He is an incredibly respectful and smart and responsible young man, and that is something that I'm incredibly proud of," Aiken, 46, tells PEOPLE exclusively. Now he reveals his son's secret passion: learning to be a pilot.

Transcript

00:00To be that way and to be so set on it at 16, he's in the process of figuring out he wants to be a

00:06pilot. I don't know why I always never say that, so I guess you're the first ones I'm telling to.

00:10I'm always so naturally, just I don't tell his business. And now that he's 16, we talk about it

00:19a little bit more. And I have done interviews with people and never said what he wants to be. And he's

00:24like, you should tell him, just tell him. He just went and did his first solo flight two weeks ago.

00:29You know, now we're planning on the next one, which will be even, I'll need even more Xanax for.

00:34But the next one, he has to fly pretty much across the state by himself. And I'm not gonna be able to

00:40see the plane. You're gonna have, they're gonna have to, just call an anesthesiologist because I

00:46don't have the nerves for that. His instructors all have said he's better than the adults that they

00:52have taught. But like I said, he's been focused on it for years and that's what he wants to do.

00:58So I don't really worry about his skill level. I worry about the plane. I told him when you are

01:04flying in a bigger plane, we can talk, but I don't do those JFK junior planes. You know what I mean?

01:09While we're waiting for it, there are so many air disasters, so many planes crashing. Every week,

01:16there's a new one on the news. So of course, my blood pressure broke the cuff because that was in the

01:22news around this time. But he, you know, he knows his pilot instructor knows, says he knows what he's

01:27doing. And he, his idol is Sully Sullenberger and he wants to be as good as him. So that's what he

01:37puts his energy into. And I think he is.

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