Twenty years after his viral American Idol audition, William Hung reveals gambling addiction
Today, January 15 is the 20 year anniversary of William Hung’s notorious American Idol audition. In it, the 20 year old University of California student confidently belted out an off key version of Ricky Martin’s “She Bangs.” His earnest rendition made him an instant and viral fan favorite.
However, according to People magazine, William’s life since that fateful audition in front of judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson has had it’s ups and downs. While his immediate post-Idol life was a whirlwind, including a hit independent album, Inspiration, and cameo parts on TV shows and commercials, the novelty wore off and William eventually went back to school, earning an MBA in mathematics, and got a job at the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, where he worked as a statistical analyst.
But then he got an itch to branch out, and his new endeavor proved to be his undoing.
William’s marriage ended after he developed a gambling addiction after taking up professional poker
“I quit my job three years ago and became a professional poker player,” William confessed to People. “I’d been doing it on the side for a while, and I decided maybe I was good enough to go for it. I was earning way more doing that than I was at my regular job. It was going well for a while.”
But not so fast. “Unfortunately I developed a gambling addiction,” he said. “I knew I was good at poker, but then I got greedy. I got into sports betting. The whole gamut. I know better [now]. I wasn’t supposed to do those things, but I did it anyway,” he said. “And I paid for it. I got divorced, and I learned I had to be smart about which risks I chose to take.”
“Things went downhill fast when my ex-wife found out about you,” he wrote in a latter addressed to his gambling problem. “I came home from work one day, and she started asking me all these questions about why I was so nervous about every sports game and why I was always tired … How do you think that went — with all of the money I could have used to improve our life — gone? I’ll give you a hint: it ended with her asking for a divorce.”
William marries wife no. 3
But now, he claims to be back on track. He married his THIRD wife Hannah last year and is back at his old job at the LA Sheriff’s Department. He’s hoping to finally start a family.
In the meantime, he’ll pursue entertainment gigs on the side. He maintains a popular presence on Cameo and still delivers motivational speeches.
“I remind people to expect the unexpected, and that whatever happens, having the positive outlook in life helps. It is a choice to see the good in a potentially bad situation, or see the good in the potentially bad people who might try to take advantage of me or whatnot. That’s the way I reframe my mindset. Instead of feeling bad for myself, I think, how could I make this more mutually beneficial? So I think that’s the biggest takeaway from this whole experience.”
