Kelly Clarkson Tears Up With Rita Wilson Over Her Talk Show Ending: ‘I’m Fine’

Kelly Clarkson got emotional while discussing the upcoming end of her daytime talk show.

“I’m not crying,” Clarkson, 44, joked as the tears flowed during the Wednesday, May 27, episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show. “I’m like, shut it off, it’s OK.”

The talk show host was overcome with emotion when her guest Rita Wilson took a moment to thank Clarkson for bringing “so much music to daytime” over the past seven years.

“I want to thank you for the years of doing your show,” Wilson, 69, said. “I want to thank you for literally changing the game when it came to daytime television. The fact that you love music, the fact that you’ve brought so much music to daytime. You have shared with us your voice, your gifts and everyone else’s, and your incredible band. I really want to thank you because it has made a big change in my life.”

Clarkson started to tear up as she hugged Wilson, before joking, “I’m fine!”

The American Idol alum confirmed in February that the current seventh season of The Kelly Clarkson Show would be its last.

“I have been extremely fortunate to work with such an outstanding group of people at The Kelly Clarkson Show, both in Los Angeles and New York,” Clarkson told Us Weekly in a statement at the time. “There have been so many amazing moments and shows over these seven seasons. I am forever grateful and honored to have worked alongside the greatest band and crew you could hope for, all the talent and inspiring people who have shared their time and lives with us, all the fans who have supported our show and to NBC for always being such a supportive and incredible partner.”

Later that month, Clarkson indicated on Today that her decision to step away from daytime TV was motivated by a desire to spend more time with her two children, River Rose, 11, and Remington, 10. (Clarkson shared her two children with her late ex-husband, Brandon Blackstock, who died at age 48 in 2025 following a battle with cancer. Blackstock also had two older children from a previous marriage.)

“I know everybody thinks, ‘Oh, she’s quitting,’ but I still have other jobs,” Clarkson told Today anchor Carson Daly in February. “I’m still doing stuff. There’s just too much on the plate. So I was like, you know what, it’s time to kinda pull back.”

She added, “It’s amazing. That’s what was really hard [because] the crew’s been incredible. … That was a really hard thing for me, but an easy decision there as a momma.”

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One of the jobs Clarkson has already lined up for the future is a return to The Voice as a coach for season 30, alongside Adam Levine and newcomers Riley Green and Queen Latifah.

The Kelly Clarkson Show premiered in September 2019 and has earned 24 Daytime Emmy Awards throughout its seven seasons. The daytime talk show was originally filmed in Los Angeles for its first four seasons before moving to 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City starting with season five.

The final episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show will air later this year.