‘AGT’ Champ Richard Goodall Talks Quitting Janitor Job & How He’ll Spend Prize Money

Martin Holmes September 27, 2024, 9:50 am

Richard Goodall‘s dreams came true on Tuesday night (September 24) when he won Season 19 of America’s Got Talent, not only winning the hearts of America but the $1 million prize.

“I go into every single section of the show with no expectations, and so when he called my name, I was flabbergasted,” Goodall told Gold Derby after his victory. “It’s not very often that I’m speechless. Not just with winning the show, but I sang with Journey on the show, so pinch me!”

Goodall, who works as a janitor for a middle school in Terre Haute, Indiana, is now looking forward to what’s next. As for whether he’ll quit his janitor job, it seems that isn’t the plan just yet.

“I’m going to be there for a little while and see what comes our way and see where life takes us,” he explained, noting how he and his newly wedded wife Angela “definitely want a home.”

“Then we want to invest a little bit of the money smartly and just do whatever is called. We might rent or lease a nice RV and just kind of tour around different places,” he added.

See 'AGT' Winner Richard Goodall's Emotional Video With Journey Guitarist Neal Schon

“I need to be smart,” he continued. “That’s a lot of money, but that kind of money doesn’t always go very far if you’re just being stupid. There’s TV shows about lottery winners that win the lottery and two years later they’ve got absolutely nothing. So we’re gonna be smart about it.”

Goodall shared similar sentiments in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, revealing he plans to remain in his janitor role “for a while still yet” and then “invest a little” of his $1 million prize money.

“Angela and I, we think everything out together. We don’t make any plans other than what we talk about together,” he told the outlet. “We’re not fancy people, so it’s not going to be anything fancy or extravagant. We’re just regular people and the money is… we just try to be conservative about it. We have no idea or expectations of what’s coming ahead.”