The Voice: Christina Aguilera Apologizes to Tony Lucca

USMagazine, Wednesday, May 9, 2012, 5:50am (PDT)

Tony Lucca didn't win season two of The Voice -- Jermaine Paul did -- but the finalist did walk away from the NBC singing competition on better terms with Christina Aguilera.

After a whole season of catty back-and-forths between the former Mickey Mouse Club costars came to a head on Monday's performance episode -- Aguilera charged that Lucca's cover of Jay-Z's "99 Problems" was "derogatory to women" -- the 31-year-old pop star was seen whispering apologetically to Lucca towards the end of Tuesday's show.

VIDEO: Adam Levine taunts Xtina

"She just wanted to clear the air a bit," Lucca, 36, explained to Us Weekly of the private chat. The "Dirrrty" singer "apologize[d] that this became much more of a dramatic thing than she ever intended it."

Lucca (who called Aguilera "pathetic" backstage on Monday's show) responded in kind.

"I said to her, 'I hope that we can be cool moving forward,'" he told Us. "I take pride in the fact that my whole career has been a career of integrity, and sound relationships."

PHOTOS: Nasty celeb feuds

Although Aguilera initially didn't recall Lucca from their days as Mouseketeers, not all of Lucca's costars had the same amnesia. "I take pride in the fact that Justin [Timberlake] and JC [Chasez] and people will go to bat for me. Because of that integrity, I would hate to think that through this whole course that [Christina] and I would both suffer on the backside," Lucca mused. "So, you know, water under the bridge."

And Lucca does not blame Aguilera's harsh criticisms for his loss on the show -- but wondered whether their feuding turned voters off.

PHOTOS: Xtina's body evolution

"Her criticism for the most part has inspired me and led me to a higher plane than I might not have found otherwise," he surmised to Us. "I've tried to turn that all into positive and use it for creative inspiration but I don't know . . . maybe this is America's way of saying that they don’t want to reward this sort of petty back-and-forth kind of thing."

Tell Us: Did the right singer win on The Voice?

This article originally appeared on Usmagazine.com: The Voice: Christina Aguilera Apologizes to Tony Lucca