Before Breanna Nix was inspiring fellow stay-at-home moms as a rising star on season 23 of “American Idol,” she was already inspiring women by sharing her incredible health journey online. The 25-year-old from Denton, Texas, has lost over 100 pounds since the 2021 birth of her son Emerson and her transformation’s been remarkable.
Nix’s audition for judges Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood, and Lionel Richie struck a chord with many viewers as Underwood implored her to never describe herself as “just” a stay-at-home mom, noting that it’s “the most important job.” Sharing her person journey to self-love with “Idol” viewers throughout the season, Nix has revealed how much she’s achieved, from losing weight to overcoming substance abuse.
Breanna Nix Says She Weighed 315 Pounds When Her Son Was Born
During the background story producers aired alongside Nix’s successful audition, she shared that she had always struggled with her weight, but that Emerson’s arrival motivated her to get healthy.
“Emerson was a blessing I didn’t know I needed,” she told producers. “I was overweight my whole life, always the bigger girl. Right after I had my son, I was over 315 pounds. I just remember being in the delivery room and just looking down at him knowing that, if I wanted to be the best mom that I could, this lifestyle was not going to work. I decided to lose weight.”
“It led me to a journey of self-love,” Nix continued. “I’ve learned I can do the things that I really dreamed to do. I’m doing this because I want Emerson to know that anything is possible. He’s watching his mama chase after her dreams. I just hope that one day he’ll do the same thing.”
To keep herself accountable, Nix posted what she was eating on Instagram and shared her progress along the way. She quickly shed 19 pounds after Emerson’s birth, by acknowledged in a later post that “at 296.8lbs I didn’t see a way out. I felt hopeless. That word might be a little bizarre or extreme to you.. but it was the truth. I was literally so lost. I didn’t even know who I truly was.”
Nevertheless, she remained committed and by late 2021, she’d lost a total of 74 pounds, she shared. In May 2022, she posted a dressing room selfie, celebrating her “first time to ever fit into a size 12 skirt” after starting her journey wearing a size 24W. By December 2022, Nix wrote that she was “120 pounds down.”
Nix became a health coach to others online while also posting videos of her and her husband, Austin, performing worship songs at their home. That led her to “American Idol,” where she advanced to the top 8 on May 4.
Breanna Nix Opened Up to Her Celebrity Mentors About Past Substance Abuse
While rehearsing for her top 24 performance in Hawaii, Nix opened up to mentors Jelly Roll and Ashanti about her song choice for that round, “Still Rolling Stones” by “Idol” alum Lauren Daigle.
“This song is very personal to me,” she said. “In high school, like, I dealt with a lot of rejection and just not feeling like I was anything, and I turned to a lot of drinking and trying to run away.”
Her voice cracking, Nix continued, “Just, um, a lot of things that I wasn’t proud of and I thought that I was way too far gone. When (Daigle) was writing these lyrics, I felt like I was writing the lyrics because I walked through everything. And I think my hope, at least, is if America gets to hear that, you know, someone that’s so down and out, that they can see there’s a way out. I just want to sing with that message.”
During the April 27 episode, Nix told celebrity mentor James Taylor that music had always been “an outlet” as she dealt with “the things that I was going through, dealing with depression and drugs and alcohol.”
“Music saved me,” she told Taylor, and he replied, “It sounds so parallel to my experience. It was a lifesaver for me.”
“We related on a lot of different things,” Nix told producers after their mentorship session. “He did a lot of things he wasn’t proud of but he came out on the other side, so I’m really wanting to lay it out there and give people the same hope.”
Nix will vie for a spot in the top 7 on the two-hour May 5 “American Idol” episode, airing live coast-to-coast on ABC beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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Breanna Nix Lost Over 100 Pounds Before ‘American Idol’: Her Amazing Before & After