Jennifer Hudson is a woman of many hats who has comfortably made a name for herself as an African-American actress, singer, a season 3 American Idol contestant, and one of the greatest ever in the show. She is also a 2-times Grammy award winner who has hit songs like Spotlight, If This Isn’t Love, and Think Like a Man.
Her fame has equally brought attention to her love life and begs the answer to a question that relates to whether she is married. Here’s what you should know about her love life from the 1990s to the present.
Jennifer Hudson Rose To Stardom While Dating
Her High School Love
Hudson was born on September 12, 1981, in Chicago, Illinois, and is at present 43 years old. She has 2 older siblings, a late brother named Jason and a sister, Julia.
Hudson attended Dunbar Vocational High School where she started dating James Payton in 1999, the same year she graduated. This love affair started years before she got her first recording contract in 2002 and joined season 3 of the American Idol talent show in 2004.
Hudson was evicted from the American Idol at the Top 7 contest. However, she was still able to make heads turn towards her in her music career as well as get to be named the 6th of the greatest singers to ever grace the show.
Even after the show, she continued with her relationship with Payton – a maintenance engineer. However, after 8 years, the relationship ended.
Why She Broke Up With James Payton
Jennifer clearly grew up with Payton but their love life did not end happily ever after. Rather than saying exactly why the relationship ended, she decided to keep it away from the public. Anyway, they still have a good relationship and she sees him as family.
Payton on his own end has moved on with his life, has another relationship, and is a father.
She Dated Actor and Former Wrestler David Otunga
After she parted ways with Payton, Hudson started a relationship with David Otunga, a Kenyan-American actor, lawyer, and color commentator who was a former professional wrestler.
On her 27th birthday in 2008, Otunga proposed to her. On August 10, 2009, Jennifer Hudson welcomed their first child, a son named David Daniel Otunga Jr. Nonetheless, 8 years later in the fall of 2017, Hudson and Otunga ended their relationship after months of separation.
Towards the fallout of the relationship, further disclosures were made that Hudson got an order of protection as a result of David getting physical with her. In spite of David’s denial of the assertion, it did not stop the cops from taking him out of their home as per claims.
She Secretly Dated Music Producer Mali Music
The reason for the separation of Otunga and Hudson has been alleged to be a result of Hudon’s cheating allegations with music producer Mali Music. However, Hudson would go on to deny the claim.
According to reports, she met Mali Music when she hired him to perform at a party. Shortly after, they were said to have become friends and led to a romantic affair.
In another report, it was issued that Hudson had been hanging out with Mali Music and had spent late nights with her son at the studio with the producer. David did not like the move and ended in a confrontation.
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Truth About Why Jennifer Hudson is Not Married
On many occasions, especially while she was still dating David Otunga, questions have been raised as to why she is not married. The actress cum singer has disclosed many times that she was not in a rush as everything is about timing. Also, marriage to her is not a guarantee that a romantic relationship would last forever.
Also in the same light of marriage, Jennifer Hudson’s only surviving family apart from her son was married without any luck. Her sister Julia had married William Balfour who was later charged and convicted for the murder of Hudson’s mother, only brother, and nephew, Julian King in 2008.
Who Is She Dating Now?
Since the failure of 2 of her previous notable relationships, Hudson has kept her relationship life buttoned-up. In the same vein, the father of her child, David is not in any relationship as far as we know.
As much as there is secrecy in her love life, Hudson has maintained a great position in her career and continues to enjoy the limelight that comes with it. Since the end of her past relationship, she has gone to appear as a coach in The Voice U.S (2019), performed in Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special (2020). She has also released songs such as Here I Am (Singing My Way Home, 2021), Ain’t No Way (2021), Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (2021 and I’ll Fight (2018).
