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[WARNING: This post contains MAJOR spoilers from the Season 20 finale of America\u2019s Got Talent<\/em>.]<\/strong><\/p>\n Jessica Sanchez<\/a> was officially crowned the winner of\u00a0America\u2019s Got Talent<\/em><\/a> Season 20 during the Wednesday, September 24, finale. It was a full-circle moment for the singer, as she first competed on the show when she was 10 years old during\u00a0AGT<\/em>\u2018s very first season in 2006.<\/p>\n As she gushed on Instagram<\/a> ahead of the premiere in May, \u201cBeing 10 years old on AGT<\/em> played such a massive role in me believing in something bigger for myself, for my voice. What a huge blessing it is to be able to come back and chase after my dreams again after 20 years. Can\u2019t wait to see what God has in store for me.\u201d<\/p>\n Some fans may also remember Sanchez from her run on Season 11 of\u00a0American Idol<\/em><\/a>, too. She was just 16 years old when she was voted runner-up of the show, losing to Phillip Phillips<\/a>.<\/p>\n Scroll down for an update on what Sanchez has been up to in the years since her time on\u00a0Idol<\/em> now that she\u2019s officially and\u00a0AGT<\/em> champion.<\/p>\n Sanchez is still pursuing a career in music and now has her $1 million\u00a0AGT<\/em> prize to help move her career in the right direction.<\/p>\n After her time on\u00a0American Idol<\/em> in 2012, Sanchez released her album\u00a0Me, You and the Music<\/em> in 2013. She followed it up with a Christmas EP in 2015. Although the singer never put out any full-length albums after that, she continued releasing songs quite regularly until 2022, but never saw much commercial success.<\/p>\n Jessica Sanchez on America’s Got Talent<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Trae Patton\/NBC<\/p>\n \u201cI had so many amazing opportunities, worked with so many amazing people, and hit some very big stages, but I feel like I was so young at that time, I didn\u2019t really get to, one, digest it properly, and also, I feel like I was tugged back and forth of where people wanted me to be and who they wanted me to be,\u201d Sanchez admitted in an interview with TV Insider<\/a>.<\/p>\n Of her decision to take a \u201cstep back\u201d from music for a few years, she added, \u201cI kind of just lived a normal life, which was different for me because music was really, like, my identity when I was younger. It felt like a low season, but I definitely needed that to be where I am today to be confident in myself, to know who I am, to know what I want. To come back 20 years later, back on the stage where it all started for me, I feel like I\u2019m on cloud nine.\u201d<\/p>\n She also previously told the San Diego Union Tribune<\/a> that music used to \u201cfeel like a job,\u201d whereas now, it \u201cfeels like something I\u2019m blessed to be able to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Sanchez married her husband, Rickie Gallardo, in 2021. The couple met in 2017 and have been together ever since. She opened up about their first meeting during an interview with FYE Channel<\/a> in 2023.<\/p>\n \u201cThis show producer, he rented out a church as a venue. I wasn\u2019t doing a church event, we just used the church as a venue for one of my concerts,\u201d Sanchez explained. \u201cRickie used to do lights at the church, so when I was singing on stage during my concert, during my show and everything, I guess one of his friends told him, like, \u2018Bro, you gotta come back to the church, do some lights, because this girl can sing,\u2019 this and that. So he drove over and he sent me a video on Instagram of him and me in the background on stage, saying, \u2018I\u2019m gonna marry you one day,\u2019 and all this stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n Sanchez admitted she wasn\u2019t sure if it was \u201csafe\u201d to spark a conversation with Gallardo. \u201cUsually I would never, ever, ever respond to someone I don\u2019t know, no mutual friends, nothing, but I don\u2019t know \u2026 I guess something in me just told me to go for it,\u201d she admitted. \u201cWe hung out every day for a month and then we started dating.\u201d<\/p>\n In a 2023 interview with Push<\/a>, Sanchez opened up about married life and said Gallardo \u201cchanged [her] for the better.\u201d She also revealed that her wedding was \u201cvery small\u201d and planned \u201cin a couple days\u201d when she and Gallardo realized their pastor was in town. \u201cI loved our little wedding, but, I mean, it was really small,\u201d Sanchez shared. \u201cNot much of his family was there and my family wasn\u2019t there because it was so last minute.\u201d<\/p>\n She said that she and her husband got their rings from Walmart and she bought her dress at the mall.<\/p>\n Sanchez doesn\u2019t have any kids yet, but she is pregnant with her first child. She found out about her pregnancy just days after she auditioned for\u00a0American Idol<\/em> in early 2025.<\/p>\n \u201cIt didn\u2019t really hinder me from wanting to take that next step back on that stage,\u201d she told TV Insider. \u201cIf anything, it kind of motivated me a little bit because I\u2019m like, now I get to do this with my daughter. It\u2019s like a once-in-a-lifetime thing.\u201d<\/p>\n By the time Sanchez performed in the\u00a0AGT<\/em> finale, she was nine months pregnant and just weeks away from giving birth.<\/p>\n Read the latest entertainment news on TV Insider<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nWhat is Jessica Sanchez doing now?<\/h2>\n
Is Jessica Sanchez married?<\/h2>\n
Does Jessica Sanchez have kids?<\/h2>\n