American Idol Alum William Hung’s Marriage Imploded amid His Gambling Addiction. How He Survived Rock Bottom (Exclusive)

William Hung certainly never set out to become a viral sensation.

But when he auditioned for American Idol in San Francisco in 2004, during the show’s third season with an unusual rendition of Ricky Martin’s “She Bangs,” that’s exactly what happened to the UC Berkeley engineering student.

“It was all very surprising,” Hung, now 41, tells PEOPLE of becoming a household name after his audition aired on Jan. 15, 2004. “I didn’t expect it. I didn’t have any expectations other than thinking it would be fun .”

Hung’s audition was memorable for several reasons. Only 20 years old at the time, he lived in the US for 10 years after emigrating with his family from Hong Kong. He had a childlike innocence that the cameras loved.

Hung remembers that the producers asked him for an interview before the audition, and when he went on stage he told the judges that singing was his passion.

“I may not be the best singer, but I sing from the heart,” he told judges Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell.

Viewers held their breath, hoping that Hung might be the next unexpected musical sensation: Someone who didn’t look like a typical pop star, but had undeniable talent.

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That didn’t happen.

Hung’s off-court singing and unusual dance moves had the judges laughing from the start. After the performance, Cowell — known for his scathing criticism — told Hung that it “was one of the worst auditions we’ve had this year.”

“I mean, everything about it was grotesque,” Cowell emphasized.

Cowell’s criticism was mean, but the words didn’t bother Hung. “I’ve already done my best and I have no regrets,” he told Cowell, earning praise and encouragement from Abdul and Jackson.

Today, Hung still has that optimistic attitude — and believes it’s the reason he became famous in the first place.

“Most people would be angry or upset, or throw their water bottle at him,” he says. “I didn’t see the need for it, and people seemed to like it.”

His TV moment changed the course of his life.

Hung left Berkeley to pursue a musical career. “I had my moment at the top,” he says of singing. “My first album, Inspirationwas the No. 1 independent album on the Billboard charts.”

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He also had small roles in series like Arrested development (he played himself) and acted in several commercials. He has appeared in several Chinese films and has also become a motivational speaker.

But soon the music and entertainment industry stopped calling.

“In this situation, very few people can stay on top for long,” he says of viral fame. “After a while, I thought, I don’t want to waste my life, so I went back to school, finished my degree and looked for a stable job. That suited me. I had already made more than American Idol than I could have ever expected.”

William Hung plays himself in Arrested Development in 2006.

20th Century Fox Film Corp./Courtesy of Everett

After earning his bachelor’s degree and MBA in mathematics, Hung joined the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, where he worked as a statistical analyst. “I love data, playing with numbers and computers, so that’s something I’ve enjoyed,” he says.

But another career called.

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“Three years ago I quit my job and became a professional poker player,” he says with a laugh. “I was doing it on the side for a while and I decided I might be good enough to do it. I was making a lot more money doing it than I was at my regular job. It was going well for a while.”

And then it crashed.

“Unfortunately, I developed a gambling addiction,” he says. “I knew I was good at poker, but then I got greedy. I got into sports betting. The whole gamut. I know better 1705238443. I shouldn’t have done those things, but I did them anyway,” he says. “And I paid for it. I got divorced and learned that I have to be smart about the risks I take.”

In a candid post on his LinkedIn profile about a year ago, Hung told his followers that it was “time to address” his addiction.

“Things went downhill fast when my ex-wife found out about you,” he wrote in the latter addressed to his gambling problem. “One day I came home from work and she started asking me all these questions about why I was so nervous about every sports game and why I was always tired… How do you think that went – with all the money that I could have improved our life — disappeared? I’ll give you a hint: it ended with her filing for divorce.”

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Once again Hung rose.

Last year, he married his third wife, Hannah, and decided to return to his old job analyzing data for the sheriff’s department.

He also hopes to start a family. “It’s a work in progress,” he says of trying for a child with his wife.

William Hung on the set of a music video in 2004.

M. Caulfield/WireImage

After overcoming his ups and downs, Hung is excited about the future and says he will continue to entertain on the side (he says he’s very popular on Cameo).

But these days, stability is most important to him. “There’s nothing wrong with having a steady job after fame,” he says. “I think it’s the right thing to do to provide for my family now.”

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When it comes to his motivational speaking engagements, the biggest point he makes to people is that attitude is everything.

“I remind people to expect the unexpected and that no matter what happens, a positive outlook on life helps. The choice is to see the good in a potentially bad situation or to see the good in potentially bad people who might try to take That’s how I reframe my mindset. Instead to feel bad about myself, I’m thinking, how can I make this more mutually beneficial? So I think that’s the biggest takeaway from this whole experience.”

Oh, and when he meets people on the street and they ask him to sing “She Bangs?”

“I have other favorite songs,” he says with a laugh. “Ask me to do ‘Just Dance!'”

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Source: HIS Education