Jennifer Hudson has just successfully hosted her first daytime talk show. The EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) winner opened the first episode of The Jennifer Hudson Show on Monday by reflecting on her long-held wish to host her own programme.

“Thank y’all for being here. I’m not gonna cry on y’all,” Hudson told the audience. “But this is… it’s an emotional time and day for me because this is my first show and just know when you see me, you’re gonna see my heart. And I hope you feel my heart. And I wish you could sense my heart.”

Who is Jennifer Hudson?

Jennifer Kate Hudson, also referred to as J.Hud and born on September 12, 1981, is an American actress and singer. She has won numerous awards during her career for her contributions to theatre, film, television, and recorded music.

Hudson became the second African-American woman and the youngest person to win the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony (EGOT) honours in the history of American entertainment. In 2013, she was also awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She was listed by Time as one of the top 100 global influencers in 2020.

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As a finalist on the third season of American Idol in 2004, Hudson gained notoriety after finishing seventh. Her role as Effie White in the musical Dreamgirls (2006) marked her acting debut, and for that role, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, making history as the youngest African-American to do so in a field with so much stiff competition.

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Hudson’s self-titled first studio album, which was rated Gold in the US and the UK and won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album, was released in 2008 after she signed with Arista Records.

I Remember Me (2011) and JHUD (2014), Hudson’s subsequent studio albums, both peaked in the top ten of the Billboard 200, with the former also receiving US Gold certification. She also appeared in the movies Sex and the City (2008), The Secret Life of Bees (2008), Winnie Mandela (2011), Black Nativity (2013), Sing (2016), Cats (2019), and Respect (2021), as well as the television series Smash (2012), Empire (2015), and Confirmation (2016).

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She also made her Broadway debut in the musical The Color Purple. From 2017 to 2019, Hudson served as a coach on both the UK and US editions of The Voice, where she made history by becoming the first female coach to take home the first prize.

At the age of 18, Hudson started dating James Payton in 1999. in the latter part of 2007. Following their meeting, Hudson was engaged to Harvard Law graduate and professional wrestler David Otunga in September 2008. Hudson gave birth to her first child, a son named David Daniel Otunga Jr., in August 2009. Hudson and Otunga had separated as of November 2017.