Behind his smile and angelic voice, American Idol, frontrunner David Archuleta suffers from a painful secret - his parents filed for divorce.

But David's amazing talents as a performer saved his parent's marriage and kept him and his four siblings together. His parents, James Jeffrey Archuleta and Lupie Marie Archeleta filed to dissolve their marriage in 2002.

According to court papers, they filed for divorce in Salt Lake County, Utah, citing irreconcilable differences. But they stopped the divorce proceedings when David, just 12, at the time won the $100,000 first place prize on Star Search. A year earlier, Jeffrey Archeleta's business, Arch Consulting Group had several tax liens placed on it. The business was listed as being worth approximately zero in the divorce documents. David's parents were granted a decree of divorce in January 2003, but the judge never signed the final paperwork.

Terry Spencer, the attorney who handled the Archeleta divorce said the divorce was not finalized because neither Jeff nor Lupe attended the Divorce Education Class required under Utah Law. It was David's winning the $100,000 in the junior singing category in 2003 Star Search competition that kept his parents from making their divorce official. The aborted divorce proceedings have been kept so secret that even close family members and friends don't know that the family nearly split apart.

According to a neighbor, the family moved into a 10,000 square foot home in Murray, Utah, shortly after young David won the six figure prize. The home's purchase price was $795,000 according to property records.

The money David won on Star Search helped Jeff get his business off the ground. The family became so involved in pulling for David to win they forgot about the divorce. It was David who saved his family. His singing kept them together.