Sam Diaz, the 24-year-old winner of ABC’s Season 18 of the hit competition, expressed embarrassment at having to resume singing in public after their major success.
They shared several clips on Instagram of them singing Ariana Grande’s “Almost Is Never Enough” in a subway station.
Diaz, who uses they/them pronouns, wrote a now-deleted caption expressing disappointment at having to resort to such measures after winning the show but reminded themselves that they were only 20 when they first started on the show and had no knowledge of the music industry.
The Harlem-born singer won the first remote finale in “Idol” history and took home a $250,000 prize as well as a recording contract from Hollywood Records.
However, in 2022, Diaz left the label without a single album release. They explained that they could not afford to release music as mixing and mastering music was very costly.
Despite this, they remain hopeful that there is more to come for them. They admitted to having felt like they let people down but still believe that everything happens for a reason.