Heavy/ABC "American Idol" season 2 winner Ruben Studdard
Baby on board! “American Idol” season 3 winner Ruben Studdard, 45, is about to be a dad again. On November 5, 2023, the R&B crooner and his wife, Kristin Studdard, announced via social media that they’re expecting their second child together.
In an Instagram video featuring the couple’s three-year-old son Olivier celebrating, Kristin wrote, “Surprise🎉 We’ve been keeping a little secret🤭 I’ve been soaking up this blissful baby bubble✨”
The good news comes on the heels of Studdard’s first album release in five years and as he continues to tour the U.S. with his dear friend — and his runner-up on “American Idol” — Clay Aiken.
Here’s what you need to know:
Ruben & Kristin Studdard Featured Firstborn Son in New Baby Announcement
The Studdards’ Instagram announcement began with a video of the couple’s three-year-old son, Olivier, wearing a “Big Bro” shirt while celebrating the news. They also shared the news with a photo of a sonogram image next to a “Baby Studdard” onesie, along with a sign that read, “Soon to be a family of four 🤎 2024.”
“Idol” alum Kimberly Locke, who took third place on season 2, commented, “OMG!!!! Congrats!!!! 😍✨️🥳”
During his first marriage to Zuri McCants, which lasted from 2008 to 2011, Studdard gained a stepdaughter and became a very involved parent, according to OK! Magazine. But Olivier and his future little sibling are the singer’s only biological children.
When Olivier was born in June 2020, the couple gave him the middle name “Kevin” in memory of Studdard’s brother, who died in 2018 at age 44, he shared on the Tamron Hall Show in February.
“I gave my son my brother’s middle name, which is also my father’s middle name,” he told Hall. “I just wanted him to have a connection to his uncle because I know how much his brother wanted to meet him, if he ever showed up. So he’s here, and he can always say, ‘I got my uncle’s middle name.'”
He also told Hall that he prioritizes family time even though he’s frequently on the road performing, including on his popular tour with Aiken, who is also a dad to a 15-year-old son, per People.
“I make everything work as much as I possibly can with my family and to do this job,” Studdard told Hall. “Because this is what I love, this is what drives me, this is how I take care of my family.”
Ruben Studdard is Keeping Busy With New Album & Ongoing Tour
While he and his wife await the arrival of their second child, Studdard also just birthed his first album in five years, called “The Way I Remember It.”
The 10-song R&B album came to fruition after he signed a new record deal with SoNo Recording Group, according to WBLS.
On October 31, he posted a video on Instagram expressing his thanks for fans who have streamed or downloaded his new music.
“I hope that you are enjoying it,” he said. “Listen, I am just so thankful that I can continue to get to do a job that I love.”
Studdard said he was in South Dakota at the time of the recording, touring with Aiken after two decades of friendship and performances together.
He said, “I am extremely thankful that … 20 years after being on a show like ‘American Idol,’ people are still coming out, supporting, and giving us an opportunity to sing and work and do a job that we love.”
The duo has “Ruben and Clay” concert dates scheduled through the end of January 2024.
Both Studdard and Aiken consider their “American Idol” castmates from 2003 to be like family after all these years.
“It would be difficult for people to understand the level of family that we have become in the past 20 years,” Studdard told Tucson Weekly in October. “Not just with Clay and I, but with the vast majority of people who were on our particular season of ‘American Idol.’ Everybody on our season, we try our best, especially with the top 10, to keep up with each other and know what’s going on with one another and keep that family spirit going.”