‘American Idol’ Winner Just Sam Shares Major New Update After Announcing Pregnancy
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Just over five years after Just Sam was named the Season 18 winner of American Idol, they’re celebrating a major life milestone. Sam recently gave birth to their first child and had their beloved grandmother, who raised them, by their side in the hospital.
They shared photos and videos from the delivery room and captioned the post, “I am so grateful that I was able to bring my child into this world with my grandmother by my side. Her being there definitely made this moment even more special for me . Thank you LORD for blessing me with my beautiful baby.”
Sam announced their pregnancy in July and opened up about previously being told when they were 20 that they might not be able to carry children of their own. “The past couple of years, I have been trying on and off and let me tell you .. I was really starting to lose hope,” they admitted in a vulnerable Instagram post. “These past few months have been scary having to be in and out of the hospital, but being past viability week is such a great feeling and did bring a little relief to me.”
They continued, “I’m so happy to be on this journey and I have been wanting this for so long and wasn’t sure this was even possible for me so I’m beyond grateful and beyond excited to be on this journey and path to MOTHERHOOD!!!!!”
Sam, who was busking in the New York City subways before Idol, won their season at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Unfortunately, their music career never took off after the show, and they returned to street performing in 2023.
“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,” they wrote in a now-deleted post, per The Sun. “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.”
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