Winning American Idol isn’t necessarily the slam dunk it’s chalked up to be.
If you watched the reality singing competition in 2020, you may remember contestant Samantha “Just Sam” Diaz taking the cake during the remotely-filmed finale, becoming the show’s 18th winner. That pretty much sounds like a golden ticket to the good life, right? Well, according to Sam, that isn’t the case.
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The 24-year-old non-binary singer, who uses they/them pronouns, took to Instagram earlier this month to share that three years after emerging victorious from the hit ABC show, they’re back to singing in New York City subways. Alongside an IG video of them singing Ariana Grande’s Almost Is Never Enough, the American Idol alum vulnerably shared in a since-deleted caption, according to the US Sun:
“Back in 2021, I was super embarrassed to be going back to the trains. I didn’t want people to know that I legit needed the money & I didn’t want people to know that it wasn’t optional. I was disappointed in myself for allowing myself to fall so low after winning Idol, but then I had to take it easy on me and remember that I started my journey with Idol at 20 years old. Not even knowing anything about Hollywood or the music industry. Since then, I have learned so much and I’ve been able to take my experiences and share them with other artist in hopes that they don’t experience the same things that I did when It comes to making it in this life.”
The 2020 winner continued:
“For my season, there was COVID-19 which literally had the world shut down and had many people in hiding unsure of what was going to happen next. I was very much unsure of what was going to come. For a few months after winning I was unsure of what was next, but I was ready and waiting for whatever it was.”
Just Sam added:
“Everyone wants to know what happened and why this or why that & I will answer those questions someday, but In the meantime I’ll say this. I never expected to win, but I did, I was so grateful and I know that people are feeling like I let them down. I used to feel like I let myself and everyone down too. I know that there’s more coming for me. I know that everything happens for a reason and I know that this too shall pass no matter what things may look like right now. I’m not like any other contestant that has ever had a chance to be a part of the American Idol production. My year was unlike any other.”
They concluded:
“We didn’t know what to do with the win especially being that we had absolutely no help. There are people who have had more success than me and good for them I’m happy for them, but I am not them. I don’t like my situation, but it won’t be this forever.”
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This isn’t the first time we’re hearing of Sam’s situation, as they revealed to Just Jared last year that they “ended up broke” after parting ways with Hollywood Records for unknown reasons. Sam shared at the time:
“I am making music, I just cannot afford to release music, because mixing and mastering music costs a lot of money. And I invested in myself and ended up broke. That’s the truth. Not broke, broke — like I’m living. I have my own place.”
While there’s surely a lot to Sam’s story we’re missing, the artist took to their IG Story Tuesday to thank fans for the support:
“There’s so much that I want to say, but there’s not much that I am allowed to say.. but I promise that I will say more very soon.. For now I will just say thank you so much to everyone who has my back.. thank you so so much to the people who are showing me nothing but love and supporting me. THANK YOU ALL FOR THE PATIENCE!!! It’s definitely needed and appreciated.”
We really hope to see good things come Sam’s way sooner rather than later. They’ve been through so much already, and deserve to live a more secure life! Ch-ch-check out their emotional American Idol audition (below):
Share your thoughts on Sam’s situation in the comments down below!
[Images via Samantha Diaz/Instagram & ABC/YouTube]
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