'I seriously need help': 'American Idol' winner Just Sam hospitalized for mysterious illness
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: 'American Idol' winner Samantha Diaz, aka Just Sam, has been admitted in the hospital for an unknown illness. The singer revealed that she was hospitalized on Wednesday, August 24, and later shared her health updates on her social media.
The 23-year-old thanked fans for their support and wrote, "I'm grateful for the prayers everyone. I'm doing much better now," on her instagram stories on Friday, August 26. Samantha won ABC's 'American Idol' in 2020.
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Before that, she had auditioned for 'America's Got Talent' and the American iteration of 'The Voice'. Samantha posted a photo of a weight scale, and added, "100lbs is crazyyy ... I seriously need help." She has not shared why she's in the hospital.
According to Heavy, Samantha first told fans that she was hospitalized on August 26. She wrote a message on her Instagram Stories that said, "Thank you to everyone that checked on me. I am ALIVE and out of the hospital."
Samantha had auditioned for the eighteenth season of the singing reality show 'American Idol' in Washington, DC on October 14, 2019. After surviving Hollywood Week and making it into the Top 5, she received the most votes to win. On May 17, 2020, Samantha was crowned the winner of the eighteenth season of American Idol, beating runner-up Arthur Gunn.
The singer was also the first African American winner since Candice Glover in season twelve.
After winning 'American Idol', Samantha signed with Hollywood Records, although this contract was short-lived. She left the label without releasing any albums under them.
As per ET Canada, Samantha said, "I thought it was gonna be easy. Just go to the studio, record, put out music, and that's not how the world works. That's not how the industry works. It takes time, it takes money that I don't have. It takes patience."
After breaking up the contract, the singer had to pay Hollywood Records to claim the music she recorded with them. She stated that she "ended up broke" in the process, but had planned to release music "when I can and when it's ready."
Samantha released her first single since 'American Idol', "Africando," which was also written by a co-songwriter named Cat Clark on March 13, 2021, taking the help of independent digital music service DistroKid.her.
The singer released a second independent single called "Change" on September 28, 2021. The single was written and recorded with Cat Clark. The song was dedicated to family members and friends who were murder victims.