Fantasia Barrino Cries as She and Jennifer Hudson Look Back at Their Time on “American Idol” 22 Years Ago

Charlotte PhillippFri, November 13, 2026 at 11:20 PM UTC

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Fantasia Barrino and Jennifer Hudson.Credit: Jennifer Hudson Show/Youtube -

Fantasia Barrino and Jennifer Hudson are looking back at their time on American Idol

During Barrino’s Friday, Nov. 13 appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show, the pair reflected on season 3 of the competition show, during which Barrino took home the grand prize and Hudson placed third

“We’ve come a long way,” Barrino said of their time on the show

Fantasia Barrino and Jennifer Hudson are taking an emotional trip down memory lane as they look back at their time on American Idol, 22 years ago.

During Barrino’s Friday, Nov. 13 appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show, the former competitors and longtime friends looked at some behind-the-scenes photos taken on the set of American Idol season 3, which made Barrino, 42, tear up.

“I’m about to cry,” the Color Purple star said, as photos of the pair and their fellow competitors flashed on the screen. “Because we’ve come a long way.”

“We never stopped singing,” she added, as Hudson chimed in, “No. And we we’re still singing now.”

Barrino took home the grand prize on American Idol 2004, and Hudson, 45, finished in third place behind Diana DeGarmo.

Recounting their first audition for the show, Barrino joked that she was running late to the final day of the Atlanta auditions — so late, in fact, that she was nearly locked out of the building.

“The last day, we woke up, we thought we were early, but when we got there, we were a little late. And there was so many people outside and they were not having it,” she recounted. “They were like, ‘We don’t care who y’all call, what y’all say. You can’t get in.’”

However, Barrino shared that she had made friends with a man working at the arena who helped her get in.

“He just took a liking to me and my brother [singer Ricco Barrino],” she shared. “We went to the other side of the building, and I thought my brother was crazy. I’m thinking, ‘They were strict. ‘They were not having it.”

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“But the man came to the side of the building, and he said, ‘Did you audition?’ And I said, ‘No, sir.’ He said, ‘Hold on.’ And he went and got [the head producer]. I was the last person to audition. In my opinion, he was an angel.”

Both Hudson and Barrino have been candid about how their American Idol journeys impacted their careers.

Fantasia Barrino, La Toya London and Jennifer Hudson with Ryan Secrest on “American Idol” Season 3 on April 21, 2004.Credit: Ray Mickshaw/WireImage

In 2024, the EGOT winner reflected on becoming a fan-favorite — and losing out on the grand prize.

“Sometimes, you just don’t know what time you’re in until you look back at it. I would’ve never known, or how could I have ever known, that 20 years ago, making that choice to do American Idol would start such a huge change in my life,” she told PEOPLE at the time.

“[I didn’t know] that would set my career, that I could sit here and say, 20 years later, I’m still here in the industry,” she added.

In 2023, Barrino reflected on how the show changed her life as a 19-year-old single mother living in North Carolina.

“Just a little girl from High Point, North Carolina that liked to sing,” she said. “She didn’t know nothing about the industry. She didn’t know anything about, ‘Maybe you should look this way, dress this way, talk this way, smile for the cameras a certain way.’ ”

“While I was singing for everybody else, I was actually singing my way through and to some things,” Barrino added.

on People

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”