American Idol just announced Hannah Harper as the winner. Hannah, from Day 1, has been doing wonders on the stage. Her audition clip itself saw a viral surge, with the emotional honesty in the form of art. The song was about postpartum depression, and Hannah turned her struggles into something which makes people find peace in art.

Well, the finale of ABC’s longest-running show was hosted on May 11, 2026, and the top three contestants were Hannah Harper, Jordan McCullough, and Keyla Richardson. All of the contestants had to sing one touching song, along with an Alicia Keys’ song, each. As Hannah Harper became the winner of the show, people have been digging deeper into her personal life.

Hannah Harper expressed her fear about being a ‘single mom’ as her husband faced a near-fatal accident

Do you know that it was in 2019, when Hannah Harper faced a major setback in her life as her husband, Devon Mendenhall, who is a law enforcement officer from Southern Missouri. It was in February 2019 that Devon faced a major car crash, which led him to have a fractured back and a collapsed lung. This was a major heartbreak for Hannah Harper, who later spoke about the same.

Taking to her IG handle, she shared a long note, wherein she revealed that she would never have gotten through life without her. She, in the same note, revealed the day when her husband met with an accident on February 1, 2019. She mentioned that she was in a car and was trying to reach her husband, and was 10 minutes away from him, and she could only spiral through what ifs, like what if she wouldn’t be able to wake up, what if she would end up being a single mom and what if she wouldn’t be able to walk.

In the same post, Hannah Harper mentioned that her husband is the peace and security blanket she has. The emotional post spoke volumes about the love Hannah has for her husband, and shares a glimpse of the tough phase the duo is going through with her husband’s accident. An excerpt from the post could be read as:

“February 1st was one of the worst days of our lives, the thought of not waking up to you every morning hit me hard. I was in a car for 10 minutes before I got to you and all I could think about is “what if”. What if he stops breathing before I get there. What if he can never walk again. What if I have to raise my son alone… These thoughts wouldn’t leave my mind, and I couldn’t catch my breath until I was there with you.”

Hannah Harper and Devon Mendenhall’s relationship

Hannah Harper and Devon Mendenhall’s relationship started even before she shot to fame. The couple then met in a small church in Southeast Missouri, where Hannah is a worship leader. The couple got married on April 7, 2018, when Hannah was just 18, to build a life rooted in faith. It was years later, when Hannah and Devon became parents to two more boys.

It was Hannah’s audition song that instantly saw a viral surge with the emotion that the lyrics carried. In several clips that went viral, Hannah was seen crying as she described how she ended up writing the lyrics. The song’s name was String Cheese, which she wrote after the birth of her youngest son, who was only one year old. Sharing what made her write the song, Hannah said:

“I was sitting on my couch wallowing. I was just having a pity party and praying that the Lord would calm my spirit. My son kept coming up to me saying, ‘Mom, open my cheese,’ and I’m just like, ‘Just leave me alone with the dadgum cheese’. I realized that was exactly what I wanted and I kicked the postpartum depression in the butt and I said, ‘I ain’t doing it.’ And so, I wrote this song called ‘String Cheese.’”

What do you think about Hannah Harper’s emotional post for her husband that left her thinking what-ifs?