Kelly Clarkson is opening up about her decision to end her acclaimed talk show following the death of her ex-husband, music manager Brandon Blackstock.
While speaking with fellow The Voice coach John Legend on Today on Friday (Feb. 20), the American Idol alum explained that her choice to step away from The Kelly Clarkson Show after seven years — an ending she announced earlier in February — was all about family. “I think everybody probably gets the timing,” she shared. “Our family life, the dynamic changed a bit, and it has changed for a minute now.”
About six months before she put in her notice about the daytime program, Clarkson became the solo parent of her two kids, whom she shared with Blackstock. The late Starstruck Entertainment executive died in August at the age of 48 after a battle with melanoma.
“You got kids, we’ve all got kids, and it’s one of those things when you kind of start seeing life as how precious it is,” Clarkson continued on Today. “I was like, ‘I know everybody thinks she’s, like, quitting.’ I’m like, ‘I still have other jobs, so I’m still doing stuff.’ There’s just too much on the plate, so I was like, ‘You know what? It’s time to pull back.’”
“That was a really hard thing for me,” she added, praising the staff and crew she worked with on The Kelly Clarkson Show, “but an easy decision as a mama.”
The Grammy winner’s Daytime Emmy-winning show launched in 2019 and is now on its seventh season. After this current installment wraps in the fall, Clarkson will step away, but she’ll continue with other less time-consuming projects as she focuses on parenting her children.
“This was not an easy decision,” she explained in a Feb. 2 statement on Instagram when she first announced the show’s end. “Stepping away from the daily schedule will allow me to prioritize my kids, which feels necessary and right for this next chapter of our lives. This isn’t goodbye. I’ll still be making music, playing shows here and there and you may catch me on The Voice from time to time … you never know where I might show up next.”
The next season of The Voice — on which Clarkson has appeared on and off since 2018 — premieres on Monday (Feb. 23), featuring Adam Levine and Legend as coaches. The American Idol alum last dropped an album in 2023, reaching No. 6 on the Billboard 200 with Chemistry.
Watch Clarkson’s appearance on the Today show above.
