Ruben Studdard may be known for his second-season win on “American Idol”, but he’s about to become associated with a very different kind of reality competition: “The Biggest Loser”.

The 35-year old singer has released several albums since his time away from AI, but now he says he needs to focus on himself a bit. In the new season of the weight loss competition, Studdard is the heaviest contestant at 462 pounds.

“I have to get up every day and give myself the two hours that I need to keep myself together before I even get into any music stuff, and that’s just going to have to be how I do it,” he said.

Studdard has been through quite a bit in the past few years; in late 2011, he filed for divorce from wife Surata Zuri McCants, just a few months before the release of his album “Letters From Birmingham”. But the heartbreak may have helped him when it came time to be creative, he says.

“In life we all go through different situations that cause you to reflect,” he said. “I had the opportunity to be married to a wonderful person. And for some reason two good people couldn’t make a good thing work. But in life, the one thing that I love about being an artist is that you can sometimes use the pain that you go through to make beautiful things. And I think that’s what “June 28th” is really about.”

Studdard has plans for a sixth studio album right after his time on “The Biggest Loser” comes to an end. The show starts on October 8 at 8 p.m. on NBC.

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