Behind every great man, there is a great woman. Such is the case of the latest American Idol winner Kris Allen.

Admitting during his appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, set to air on May 26, that he was “shocked every week” during competition, he says it was his wife who kept him going.

“I’ve been singing for a long time I started playing guitar when I was 13 and I’m 23 now,” he tells the talk show host. “I did the music scene in Arkansas, which isn’t that big … and It didn’t work out and I almost gave up.”

But, he continues, “My wife has been the support. I seriously almost gave up a lot, and she was just like you have to keep going. She believed in me more than I believed in myself. She is just great.”

Of Simon Cowell’s declaration Allen “shouldn’t of played the wife card so early,” DeGeneres disagrees. She tells Allen, “I thought it was great and you seem like an adorable couple and I think it’s important for people to see that you have a wife and how supportive she was.”

It was an issue that never crossed Allen’s mind. “I care about her a lot so it didn’t bother me that she was brought up,” he says. “I think it bothered her more than it bothered me.”

“She is responsible for you getting this far,” DeGeneres prods. “I think you owe her something big.”

Allen’s idea: “Vacation, how about that?”

DeGeneres, meanwhile, also calls runner-up Adam Lambert Friday to talk about the finale. “The way people were talking and the way you reacted when his name was called, it was like you were his dad,” she says. “You were so genuinely happy for him they way you kind of grabbed his shoulders and hugged him and I thought you were so gracious.”

“Thank you. I was really mentally prepared to have whatever happen, happen,” responds Lambert, adding, “He was shocked. I had to shake him a little bit.”

And ever the gracious competitor, Lambert says of Allen, “I’m a huge fan.” – Kristin Boehm