Samantha Diaz is back performing in New York City subways three years after winning the singing competition American Idol.

The 24-year-old began sharing videos of her busking in stations last month, saying she is “super embarrassed” that she is back singing in subways.

“Back in 2021, I was super embarrassed to be going back to the trains. I didn’t want people to know that I legit needed the money and I didn’t want people to know that it wasn’t optional,” Diaz wrote in a now-deleted Instagram caption.

She then opened up about going broke after parting ways with Hollywood Records. She left the label in 2020, to which she had owed money even before releasing an album.

‘Back in 2021, I was super embarrassed to be going back to the trains. I didn’t want people to know that I legit needed the money and I didn’t want people to know that it wasn’t optional.’

“I’m not even going to tell you guys the amount of money that I had to pay after leaving the label to claim songs that I had already recorded,” she said. “I’m recording all the time or making music all the time, writing every day, doing what I have to do to survive. I just cannot afford to release music, because mixing and mastering music costs a lot of money. And I invested in myself and ended up broke. That’s the truth. Not broke, broke — like I’m living. I have my own place,” Diaz said.

The American Idol 2020 winner talked about how disappointed she was in herself for falling low after the competition, noting that her season of Idol, which occurred during the pandemic, had left her in a state of uncertainty.

However, “I know that everything happens for a reason, and I know that this too shall pass no matter what things may look like right now,” she added.

William Tongi, of Tongan/Samoan/Irish descent but born and raised in the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii, recently became the winner of American Idol Season 21.