‘American Idol’ winner Just Sam back singing in NYC subways: ‘Legit needed the money’

nypost.com:

who won ABC’s Season 18 of the hit competition, said they were “super embarrassed” to let fans know that they have resumed singing in public following the major win.Sam, whose real name is Samantha Diaz, shared several clips of singing Ariana Grande’s “Almost Is Never Enough” in a subway station on Instagram.“Back in 2021, I was super embarrassed to be going back to the trains.

I didn’t want people to know that I legit needed the money & I didn’t want people to know that it wasn’t optional,” Diaz, who uses they/them pronouns, wrote in a since-deleted caption, according to The Sun.“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.

Not even knowing anything about Hollywood or the music industry,” the singer said.“Since then, I have learned so much and I’ve been able to take my experiences and share them with other artists in hopes that they don’t experience the same things that I did when it comes to making it in this life,” they added.The Harlem-born singer won the first remote finale in “Idol” history — the long-running contest left the stage in 2020 to the pandemic.A post shared by Samantha Diaz (@samanthadiaz)After emerging victorious on the show just three years ago, Sam pocketed the coveted $250,000 prize as well as a recording contract from Hollywood Records.But in 2022, the singer abruptly left the label without a single album release under their belt.“I am making music,” Sam said on social media at the time. “I just cannot afford to release music, because mixing and mastering music costs a lot of money.