Jennifer Hudson Opens Up About Discovering Her Father Had 27 Kids and Her 'Dream' of Meeting Them All

Jennifer Hudson reveals a big revelation she made earlier about her family.

The singer, 42, is in this week’s final episode Your mom’s kitchen: Conversations from the heart of the home podcast this week to talk about his family life. When asked about his siblings, Hudson told a surprising story.

“Your father had a big personality,” host Michele Norris said. “And you went with your siblings and went and found him at some point and found out you had a lot more siblings?”

“Yes, a lot of us. He allegedly had 27 children,” Hudson said.

Jennifer Hudson on her talk show, EGOT win and facing her fears head-on: ‘You’ll always see me try’

A shocked Norris remarked “that’s a lot of kids,” before the EGOT winner went on to explain that she’s never met them all, but “that’s what they always told us.” She said that when she found out about them at the age of 16, she wanted to take a deeper look at her family.

“It was my dream to have all of us at this big table for Thanksgiving or Christmas, and all sit and eat together — that was my goal at 16,” she explained.

Jennifer Hudson.

Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty

The talk show host explained that she ended up meeting six or seven of them, along with the siblings she grew up with, Jason and Julia.

“We found a lot of us,” she said and added, “And I’m the youngest of them all.”

As for what they learned about her, Hudson said her father’s side of the family helped unite the siblings she eventually met.

“When my grandmother on his side died, my siblings there said, ‘You all have a sister who can really sing, you should meet her,'” she revealed. “And in the end we all came together.”

Jennifer Hudson’s son: Everything she said about parenting

Hudson is the mother of a son, 14-year-old David Daniel Otunga Jr. – which she shares with ex David Otunga. Last year she brought it to the White House for June 1st, and later in her cover story for Really simple.

“I want my son to be a part of those things — and his relatives and friends,” she said. “Little David has a really big heart and always wants to include them. So I said, ‘I’ll sing, but I have to bring my boys.'”

“And I said to the guys, ‘When you all get old and have kids, you’re going to say ‘I was there on June 1st.’ And to be able to sing for it—that’s something I’ll never forget.”

David Daniel Otunga Jr. (left) and Jennifer Hudson (right).

Kevork Djansezian/Getty

In the podcast, Hudson talked about wanting her son to grow up with a family, explaining, “I like to try to make sure he has something close to him … just making sure he has his circle of relatives and that base and foundation. That’s part of the reason why I came back to Chicago, because I wanted him to have the environment of his family around him growing up.”

“Now we’re here in LA and that’s why we want to love, have Sunday dinners. That’s one thing that’s very important,” she continued. “And then he has relatives that come in and out. One of them is right here. And so that family is on fire… So he has the same upbringing or goes to see loved ones that I talked to.”

“We have a huge family. People love the fact that you’re all this close and your family is this big. Like, we’re all still very close,” she added.

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Your mom’s kitchen: Conversations from the heart of the home is now available to stream on Audible.

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Source: HIS Education