‘American Idol’ Winner Fantasia Stronger with God After Years of Suffering

American Idol, Winner Fantasia Stronger with God After Years of Suffering

‘American Idol’ Winner Fantasia Stronger with God After Years of Suffering
Jyle Dupuis, is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Fantasia Barrino thanks God for saving her after suicide attempt.

A lot of people think that stardom is the quickest ticket to a better life. There are those who certainly fulfill their dreams, but for many, the stresses and pressures of constantly being in the spotlight can become unbearable and eventually ruin a person’s life. Take the case of 2004 American Idol champion Fantasia Barrino who recently revealed her struggles after becoming a celebrity caused her to attempt to end her life.

‘American Idol’ Winner Fantasia Stronger with God After Years of Suffering[/tweetthis]

In a recent interview, she explained how she felt during those darkest years in her life, “I came off of 'Idol' taking care of my whole entire family, so I went through a lot of dark times. It was almost like being in a glass box where everybody could see me but I couldn't get out of that box. It was just me. No one wanted to help. Everyone just wanted to talk about it, but not many people were stepping up and saying, 'Hey, I wanna reach out’”

Aside from problems in her personal and family life, other major sources of her frustration were the hate attacks and negative reports on mass media. Fantasia Barrino was mocked for not being able to finish school and because of her relationship with a married man. In a 2013 interview, she criticized how the media focused on the negative aspects of her life despite her struggling to do more good ones, “When you look on TV or turn on the radio or all the newspapers and the magazines, it was always something negative, and no matter how many things I did that were positive that never came out, so that was the hardest for me at that time.”

But Fantasia has recovered and is coming back stronger now. She is proud to tell everyone of her renewed and much stronger relationship with God. “I can thank God for those times because being here at the age of 32 making it through so much, I feel like it was a part of my journey… I realize in life that we must go through things and understand that everything we go through is necessary. It was necessary for me to go through it in order for me to do my music and do what I do on the stage.”

Her latest single I Made It off the new album The Definition Of… is based on her life experiences, Fantasia also found a new mission in life. And that is to encourage others who are also suffering from life’s unending challenges, “There's not a day that goes by that I don't meet someone – young, old, black, white, female, male – that comes up to me and wants me to talk and encourage them. God allowed me to go through certain storms and certain tests to have a testimony and share it to help somebody else along the way.”

Fantasia adds in another interview that, “Truly, I think my ministry is women. Broken women and young mothers – encouraging them. I want to also encourage them by saying, 'look, you guys. Love is there. It's out there and there's somebody for everybody.'”

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