'I flew to see my fiance at the last minute': Jennifer Hudson on the twist of fate that saved her life on day her family were slaughtered



Twist of fate: Jennifer Hudson, pictured here last night, has revealed going to see her fiance in a wrestling match in October 2008 may have saved her life

Jennifer Hudson has revealed that going to see her fiance fight in a wrestling match may have saved her life and kept her out of the house on the day her family were slaughtered.

The Oscar-winner was in Florida on October 24, 2008 when her mother and brother were killed in their Chicago home.



Her seven-year-old nephew Julian King was reported missing but was found dead three days later.



In a stunning admission the 30-year-old says she too could have been a victim of the murders.



Instead she was with David Otunga who was fighting in a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) match.



'That's one of the things that saved my life,' Hudson, 30, tells Ebony magazine.



'Because I could have been home with my mum then.



'He wanted me to come out to Florida with him instead of going to Chicago.



'I flew out to see him; that's why I'm still here.



'I've never said that before, and I can't believe I just said that now. But I didn't know.



'He was just like: "I'm going to this wrestling thing and it's in Tampa. I'm going out there now, so you can come out there and see me versus going home".'

While she was in Florida her mother Darnell Donerson, 57, and her brother Jason, 29, were brutally murdered.



William Balfour - the estranged husband of Hudson's sister Julia - has been charged with the murders.



Heartache: The star's mother Darnell and nephew Julian were both murdered in 2008

Tragedy: Her brother Jason was also killed

Otunga and the Dreamgirls star now have a son together, two-year-old David JR.

Hudson has also gone on to become a spokeswoman for Weight Watchers. She lost 80lbs following the programme.



But she is now slamming reports that she is a size zero - a claim that was made by Joy Behar on US daytime talk show, The View.



'I'm going to finally address that size zero thing that Joy said on The View,' Hudson says. 'Hell, I wasn't even on the show.



'I never said I was a size zero.

'I got crucified by I don't know how many people who cussed me out because they said I'm putting out the wrong message and telling people to be a size zero.

Adjusting: Hudson was planning a grand wedding to David Otunga before her family members were murdered, but is now in no rush

'I never said that.

Hudson - who discusses her weight loss journey in her 2012 book, I Got This: How I Changed My Ways and Lost What Weighed Me Down - said it was a long and steady battle.



She said: 'My weight loss didn't happen overnight. It's been two years.

'That's about the right amount of time to lose weight. So what's been drastic about that?

'Just because you didn't see me working doesn't mean I wasn't.'



Hudson isn't the only member of her family to be successful on the Weight Watchers plan.



More than 75 of her relatives have succeeded on it.

Cover girl: The star graces the new issue of America's Ebony magazine

Hudson also dismissed rumours that she hasn't wed her fiance because they can't settle on a prenuptial agreement.



'I don't know where that came from, because that's not the issue at all,' she says. 'I thought that was so random.



'Even if that were the case, it wouldn't be something we would discuss.'

In fact Hudson says the couple had agreed upon a wedding date before the family tragedy.

She says that before her mum, brother and nephew were killed she was looking forward to 'the biggest, grandest wedding ever.'



Hudson says: 'After that happened, I was like: "I don't know what I want".



'A lot of things have happened in my life.



'There are a lot of things that I need to get adjusted to before I do anything else.



'That's how I feel about it.'



Hudson got engaged to Otunga shortly before the murders.

She says her brother wasn't initially supportive of the couple's plans, thinking they were moving too fast.



'My brother had the biggest issue with it,' she says. 'He cried.



'But I'm his baby sister, so of course he was going to have issues with it.



'[The rest of the family] would say: "Well, Jenny always seems to make the right decisions".

'I was being told this for a reason, so [I thought]: 'We're going to take our time'.



'Obviously, I listened.'



In a heartfelt moment Hudson explains why she took on the role of a nun in the upcoming comedy The Three Stooges.



'It's so different from anything I've done,' she says. 'I play a nun.



'I feel like I'm getting my feet wet in comedy.

