It’s been more than 20 years since Fantasia Barrino was named the winner of American Idol Season 3 in 2004. Now, she’s returning to the show where she got her start to perform during the Top 12 episode of Season 23.
Monday’s (April 28) new episode will feature the remaining artists singing songs that represent “iconic Idol moments,” so Barrino is the perfect person to help represent the show’s legendary history. Scroll down for an update about what she’s up to today.
What is Fantasia doing now?
Barrino is still pursuing a career in the entertainment industry. She has somewhat consistently released albums since her time on Idol, with her most recent record, Sketchbook, released in 2019.
After previously starring in The Color Purple on Broadway, Barrino reprised her role in the show’s film adaptation, which was released in 2023. Since then, she has taken a bit of a break from her career in show business and is studying business at Central State University.
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This all came following some past struggles, including being sued by her own father in 2006 for how she portrayed him in her memoir and surviving an overdose in 2010. “I lost everything,” she admitted to People in 2023.
Of the early days in her career, Barrino said, “I didn’t know anything about contracts. I didn’t know anything about checking your money and making sure every day your stuff was where it was supposed to be. I just trusted and believed everybody that came into my life.”
Is Fantasia married?
Yes, she’s been married to businessman Kendall Taylor since 2015. The two are both from North Carolina and met at a rooftop bar there. Barrino said on The Breakfast Club in 2019 that she didn’t think she was ready for a relationship at the time because she had too much “baggage.”
Still, she had a list in her mind of what she wanted in a man, and Taylor checked all her boxes. She later told People, “Every day, I would put up on index cards what I was looking for and what I wanted. Everything I had on my wall, Kendall was that, He was a praying man, he was a smart man, he was a man with a story, he was a man with a past, he was going somewhere; I saw the king in him and he saw the queen in me.”
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Just three weeks after they met, Barrino and Taylor quietly tied the knot at a courthouse, which was followed by a larger reception later that year.
Does Fantasia have kids?
Yes, she’s the proud mom of three children. The singer shares a daughter, Zion, who was born in 2001, with Brandel Shouse, and her son Dallas, who was born in 2011, with Antwaun Cook. She gave birth to her and Taylor’s daughter, Keziah, in 2021. She’s also a stepmother to Taylor’s son, Trey.
Barrino was just 17 years old when she welcomed Zion. She has been open about the fertility struggles she dealt with while conceiving Keziah. She found out she was pregnant in 2020 after taking a break from trying following a three-year process.
“I kid you not, I forgot about it,” the actress said on The Tamron Hall Show. “And then I woke up one night, and I was just like, ‘Something’s different.’”
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This story originally appeared on TV Insider
