Fantasia's Reality Check

After winning American Idol, Fantasia says she thought her biggest struggles were behind her. "When [Ryan Seacrest] said my name, I felt like change had come and the curse had been broken and I can finally show, regardless of what you've been through, you can still go after your dreams and your visions," she says.

Still, with success came a new set of challenges. Fantasia began supporting her entire family and left financial and career decisions to others. "I was young, fresh in the game, and I just wanted to sing, without really understanding that you still have to watch after everything that you have going for you," she says. "You have to take care of your money. You have to meet with your lawyers and look over your schedule and figure out what it is that you have going on. Because it could be too much. People could just be running you and using you and abusing your gift."

Fantasia says leaving her affairs in the hands of others is what landed her home on the auction block—not foreclosure, as had been reported in the media. "It was very embarrassing because I had people showing up at my house where my daughter is and they were asking, 'Could they come see it?'" she says.