Fantasia Barrino Had Tumor on Her Throat, Still Frustrated About Negative Publicity

Mon, 01 September 2008 02:43:41 ET

Broadway actress Fantasia Barrino revealed her reason when she pulled out of "The Color Purple", telling Sister 2 Sister magazine that it's due to a tumor on her throat.

Former American Idol star Fantasia Barrino finally opened up about the reason behind her decision to pull out of Broadway show "The Color Purple". The singer revealed she decided to pull out of the show because she had a tumor on her throat.

Fantasia said that her battle to stay healthy made her feeling drained and too tired to perform every night. "I couldn't get enough sleep and sometimes onstage, I could taste blood... every now and then," she openly told Sister 2 Sister magazine. "They (producers) would send me to the hospitals and they would say, 'Well, she's dehydrated; that's what's making her tired.' They would put IVs in me. But it just wasn't enough."

Recalling the moment when doctor found a tumor on her throat, the 24-year-old singer added to the magazine, "I went into surgery and he (doctor) came out and told my mother it was a tumor." And though Fantasia is healthy now, she is still hurt over negative publicity she received for missing a run of the Broadway show.

"It really hurt my feelings... I told my manager, 'Please, somebody protect me,' because I've never missed a show... I like to perform," said the singer who rose to fame as the winner of the third season of American Idol back in 2004. "I felt like, after I had my surgery, nobody knew about it. The Color Purple didn't know about it, my record company didn't know about it, and I was very hurt that... I wasn't receiving any flowers, any balloons."

When Fantasia pulled out of "The Color Purple", she fueled speculations that she might be pregnant. At that time, her publicist merely told the media that she was unwell.

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