Ruben Studdard
Studdard — who was dubbed American Idol’s “velvet teddy bear” — beat out season 2 runner-up Clay Aiken in 2003. Studdard released his first album, Soulful, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and received a Grammy nomination for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. The Alabama native released a gospel album in 2004 before switching back to R&B in 2006 with his album, The Return. However, his label, J Records, dropped him in 2007. He released his latest album, Ruben Sings Luther — a tribute to the late Luther Vandross — in 2018.
Studdard made his return to reality TV when he competed on season 15 of The Biggest Loser as the show’s first-ever celebrity contestant. He married Zuri McCants in 2008, but the pair divorced in 2012.
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