When Justin Guarini came in second to Kelly Clarkson on the first season of American Idol, it appeared that the world would be his oyster.
Sadly, the 34-year old singer has revealed on his website that he sometimes doesn't even know how he is going to put food on the table for his growing family.
"I have spent days skipping meals in order to make sure I have enough," he wrote. "To make sure my children, and my wife have enough."
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Guarini bared his soul in a blog post about the fleeting nature of fame, and although he once "couldn't walk the street w/o being stopped a hundred times for a photo or a press of flesh," he is now envious of people working jobs behind a desk because "at least you know where your next meal is coming from."
"I drive a family oriented import, that is over mileage. My clothes are a mixture of gift-suite holdovers, things I bought when I had money but no style, and H&M," said the Doylestown, Penn., native.
He added that he looks for strength on days when he just wants to go on "without breaking down or curling up."
"I'll smile and laugh and joke, and entertain … because sometimes it's the only way to keep the ghosts of regret and loss at bay. I am unafraid to be afraid, and in that fear I gather strength," he said.
Guarini was signed to RCA Records in 2003, and appeared alongside Clarkson in the film From Justin to Kelly. He has appeared in numerous theatrical productions, including Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and the Green Day rock opera, American Idiot. He was also a television host for the shows Idol Tonight and Idol Wrap for the TV Guide Network, as well as a correspondent for the Today show, MSNBC, Fox News Channel and Larry King Live.
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He married Reina Capodici in September 2009 and welcomed his first child, William, in 2011. He welcomed his son, Asher, this February.
Although his finances aren't plush, Guarini says he is a man rich "with love."
"I have a wife whom I love and who loves me (me!) and who lifts me up," he wrote." Children who give me cherubic-lipped kisses before I leave for work and who are the most delicious morsels of joy and peace and prosperity."
Things may be looking up professionally for Guarini, as he is set to star on Broadway alongside Orlando Bloom and Condola Rashad in Romeo and Juliet.
Twitter: @Idol_Worship
