Although many “American Idol” contestants open up on the show about the challenges they’ve been through, season 23 winner Jamal Roberts kept his hardest stories close to the vest. But time and again, the show’s judges and mentors, including past winner Fantasia, remarked about how much pain came through in his voice.

Two weeks after winning the show, the soul singer from Meridian, Mississippi, is starting to open up about where that pain stems from. On June 1, 2025, Roberts shared some of the challenges he experienced growing up, during an appearance on “The Love You Moore Show.” In a vulnerable podcast interview with host Willie Moore Jr., Roberts, 27, discussed how feeling abandoned by his mom and being raised by his stepmom and grandmother shaped who he is today.

Jamal Roberts Says He Still Doesn’t Understand Why His Mom Gave Up Custody of Him & His Brother

Moore Jr. told Roberts that he, too, hears the “pain” in his voice, asking where it stems from and how the dad of three girls uses his past experiences to fuel his music.

“Well let me start by saying this first,” Roberts responded. “I’m not not trying to hurt nobody’s feelings but when it’s your story, it’s your story. So, my dad got custody of me and my oldest brother when we was younger. He was four, I was two … and my stepmom raised me.”

Roberts paid tribute to his stepmom, Tabitha, during the 2025 Mother’s Day episode on “American Idol,” sharing how instrumental she’d been in his life and revealing that she died during the COVID pandemic.

Although she was a wonderful support system for him, he told Moore Jr., the pain of not having his own mom around while he was growing up is still raw for Roberts.

Roberts explained, “What was going through my mind is, ‘Why my mom not here?’ You know? How? ‘Cause I got kids and I’m not going to let my kids go nowhere, you know what I’m saying? How did you get comfortable enough to let us just slip through the cracks and (let) my daddy take full custody?”

“And, you know, no visitations,” he continued. “I didn’t see you, you know? Stuff like that, it bothers me a little bit because I know that if I was fighting for my kids, we still going to be fighting. Ain’t no giving up, I’m just saying.”

Jamal Roberts Admits He Felt ‘Abandoned’ by His Mom as a Child

Roberts went on to say that it was particularly hurtful when his mom later had more children, but still kept her distance from him and his brother.

“We still here, over here with my dad,” he recalled. “I’m like, how does that work? Like, what’s going through your head? Like, was we not good enough? I’m like, ‘What did we do so bad to make you abandon us and then go have more kids? It does click with me, it still ain’t clicked yet.”
Roberts said that when people say they’ve heard the pain in his voice and in stories about his faith, “I pulled from abandonment. That was that — I was abandoned. I felt like I was abandoned.”

Fortunately, Roberts said, his stepmother was a loving presence in his life, given that his dad was “not emotional” and rarely gave hugs or praise.

“I used to have self-confidence problems,” he told Moore Jr., but said his stepmom always told him, “‘No, baby, you can do it. You can do it. Just do this, do this, and you can do anything you put your mind to, and I’ll always be there to support you.’ She was always there.”

Jamal Roberts Says He’s ‘Fine’ With Not Knowing Why His Mom Was Uninvolved in His Childhood

Roberts’ biological mom, Kim, is back in his life and is involved in his daughters’ lives. She was with him and his two eldest daughters — Harmoni, 7, and Lyrik, 4 — at his “American Idol” audition, and was frequently seen in the studio audience at “American Idol,” cheering and crying for her son.

He didn’t elaborate on “The Love You Moore Show” about how they reconciled, but told Moore Jr. that they have not discussed why she gave up custody more than two decades ago. He noted, though, that he is okay with not knowing.

“I never long for (knowing) what happened, and I I feel like if she wanted me to know, she would have been told me,” Roberts explained. “‘Cause, I mean, she’s in my life now and she’s in my kids’ life. I feel like if it was really that deep, she would have told me, you know?”

American Idol’ Winner Jamal Roberts Doesn’t Know Where His Cash Prize Is—but He Knows Where It’s Going – NewsBreak

Roberts continued, “I don’t care to find out because my life now is my life and all those mistakes have paved the road and made me who I am today. So I don’t want to put no more pavement on the road you … I’m fine, yeah I’m fine.”