Drake Milligan earned millions of fans by appearing on Season 17 of America’s Got Talent in 2022, where he came in third place. The Texan was invited to return for the current America’s Got Talent: Fantasy League, hand-picked by Howie Mandel to be part of a new spinoff of the popular show, pitting winners, fan favorites and finalists against each other.

“It was a lot of fun,” Milligan tells Everything Nash. “The great part about that show was it was not like a ton of pressure. I mean, you still have that pressure of being on TV and everything, but it wasn’t filmed live. And also too, you had all these great acts. I’ve been a fan of AGT, and have been watching the show for years.”

Milligan was in good company on America’s Got Talent: Fantasy League, part of an impressive cast of talent, from countries all across the globe, including the Ramadhani Brothers, Aidan Bryant, Kodi Lee, Darci Lynne and country music’s own Chapel Hart.

“It was all these past winners, and people I’ve seen on the show,” Milligan shares. “And I’m kind of sitting there like, ‘Oh my gosh,’ seeing people that I’ve seen on that show and enjoyed. So it was just a lot of fun. It was kind of a reunion for everybody. And working with that crew,  I got some great relationships from that show, so getting to go back and see everybody, it was just a lot of fun.”

Milligan performed his current single, “Don’t Leave Me Loving You,” from his just-released EP, Jukebox Songs. Although his performance didn’t earn the praise of Simon Cowell, who felt Milligan should have performed a song he wrote, and Milligan did not advance to the next round, he still felt like a winner just by being able to return to America’s Got Talent.

“I wanted to do well, and be on the show as many times as possible,” Milligan says. “And I’m so glad they invited me back to play on the finale. It was just a ton of fun to go and have a reunion with everybody.”

After an impressive finish on his original season of America’s Got Talent, Milligan was thrilled to be invited back for Fantasy League.

“I had no idea that they were doing the new show,” Milligan admits. “But it was a fun structure, and it’s fun how the judges picked their teams. And then to find out that I was Team Howie was pretty cool. He was so supportive through all my time on AGT. And so, it was just great to go see everybody again.”

Whether Cowell thought Milligan should have performed an original song or not, the rising star is thrilled with his current single.

“The first time I heard it, that melody just really stuck out to me, and it just felt like this is something that could have been a hit in the ’90s,” Milligan says of the song. “It’s a lot of fun to sing,  and I think it’s a song that a bunch of people can relate to. I think everybody’s kind of felt that way, whether it’s when a relationship ends that maybe it would be a lot easier to get over somebody if you didn’t love them so much. So it really kind of resonated with me, and hopefully with a lot of people too.”

“It’s a lot of fun to sing,” he adds. “I love ballads, I love singing sad songs. A lot of my favorite singers had a lot of great ballads, so it’s a ton of fun to sing live.”

The America’s Got Talent: Fantasy League finale will air on Monday, February 19, at 8:00 PM ET on NBC.

Find Jukebox Songs and all Milligan’s upcoming shows at  DrakeMilligan.com.

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Photo Credit: Courtesy of NBC/Trae Patotn