"American Idol" reject Mandisa Hundley, who went by her first name only on the Fox TV talent competition, says the show helped her lose 30 pounds.
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Judge Simon Cowell ripped on the plus-size diva's weight during her audition, but later apologized and became one of her biggest boosters, the New York Post noted Friday.
But she failed to make the cut this week and was voted off by viewers Wednesday night.
"Since the first audition in Chicago, I haven't gotten on the scale, but I do know that I've lost a considerable amount of weight since then -- about 30 pounds," Hundley told reporters Thursday. "I exercise, eat healthy and try not to let food dictate my life."
Hundley said she was caught off guard when she learned she had received the lowest number of votes.
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"I was surprised in a sense, but my actions that day were to be encouraging to everybody, telling them I loved them," she said.