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For Kelly Clarkson, the choice wasn’t about walking away — it was about making space for what mattered most. After months of speculation, the singer revealed on February 2 that she’s leaving her daytime talk show after its current seventh season. “This was not an easy decision,” she said in an emotional Instagram post. “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.” She added, “I want to thank y’all so much for allowing our show to be a part of your lives.”
The decision marks a turning point for Clarkson — both professionally and personally. Since debuting her popular chat show in 2019, the star has balanced a demanding career with life as a mom to daughter River, 11, and son Remington, 9. Last summer brought an even deeper shift: Clarkson’s ex-husband and the children’s father, Brandon Blackstock, died at age 48 after a three-year battle with cancer.
Now, the American Idol alum, 43, is looking ahead — putting her energy into family while focusing more on her first passion, music. (She’ll appear on season 29 of The Voice, which premieres February 23.) According to a source, Clarkson is also slowly opening herself up to romance. “Kelly’s been through so much in her life, and she just pushes on,” shares the source. “A lot of that comes from her selfless nature. She has people who depend on her, and she puts them first.”
Clarkson’s choice to end her talk show had been brewing for some time. “Kelly didn’t realize how all-consuming the show would be,” says a second source. “It’s her entire life.” The source explains that Clarkson also didn’t foresee the show’s massive success or imagine it would last as long as it did. (The chatfest has won 24 Daytime Emmy awards during its seven-season run, with Clarkson interviewing everyone from Hillary Clinton and Jill Biden to Viola Davis and Meg Ryan.) “She was surprised,” adds the source. “The talk show became more than she initially bargained for, and left her with little time to pursue anything else.”
She’s happiest making music. “Kelly asked herself, ‘Do I want to spend the rest of my life doing this?’ She wants to focus on things that she really loves,” shares the source. Her bosses at NBC gave her a lot of freedom — she had her beloved Kellyoke segment on The Kelly Clarkson Show (her covers of hit songs often went viral), and she kicked off her Kelly Clarkson: Studio Sessions Las Vegas residency in July. Her plate is also full with her Kelly Clarkson Home line of furniture and decor. Notes the first source, “When [Kelly leaves the show], she can split her time between live performances and her merchandising deals and take a step back.”
Blackstock’s death was devastating for the whole family. Clarkson first spoke of his health issues in an Instagram post she shared the day before he died, when she postponed her Vegas residency. “While I normally keep my personal life private, this past year, my children’s father has been ill and at this moment, I need to be fully present for them,” she wrote. (She’d been mysteriously absent from the show in late February and early March.) “It was a huge shock,” the first source says, adding that everyone is “doing as well as can be expected.” (Clarkson and Blackstock, her former music manager, had an acrimonious split in 2020. They settled a lawsuit in 2024 over commissions and mismanagement after he was ordered to repay her $2.6 million.)
In a January behind-the-scenes Q&A, Clarkson offered fans a glimpse into life at home with River, Remy and their two dogs, revealing that they’ve all been sleeping together. “My kids, they’re 9 and 11 [and] kind of that special little fun stage where they can wipe their own behinds, but they’re still small enough to, like, love cuddling and love snuggles,” she explained. “There’s been a lot for our family recently, and so I have allowed my kids to sleep with me quite a bit. It’s my two dogs, my two kids and me. It’s a lot. It’s been really special, though.”
On February 1, Blackstock’s former stepmother, Reba McEntire — who was previously married to his father, music manager Narvel Blackstock — told Entertainment Tonight that the rest of the family was “hanging in there” ahead of her in-memoriam performance. (Blackstock was also dad to daughter Savannah, 23, and son Seth, 18, from his first marriage.) “We miss Brandon so much,” McEntire said. “We all have a big text chain that we stay together and talk about him and remember him.”
Keeping it real. Kelly Clarkson surprised some when she filed for divorce from Brandon Blackstock on June 4, 2020, after nearly seven years of marriage. At the time, a source exclusively told Us Weekly that the former couple “clashed on so many levels and being in quarantine together [amid the coronavirus pandemic] heightened their problems […]
Clarkson has a small inner circle she keeps close. It includes her mom, Jeanne, and sister Alyssa, a couple of childhood friends and a few people she’s met in the music industry. “She is very tight with her sister and spends as much time with her as she can,” the first source says. While the siblings are close today, they actually grew up apart after their parents’ split: Clarkson was raised in Texas with her mom, her sister with her aunt and uncle in North Carolina and their brother, Jason, in California with their dad. They reconnected in 2001 and even lived on the same plot of land that the singer purchased after her American Idol win.
Despite her celebrity status, Clarkson isn’t big on the Hollywood party scene or high-profile events. “Kelly’s a real homebody,” says the first source. “When she isn’t working, which is rare, she likes to be home, watching movies and hanging out. That’s how she unwinds.”
Clarkson hasn’t had a public relationship since her split from Blackstock. “Dating can be very difficult, which is why I don’t,” she told the crowd during a residency performance last July. “Add a spotlight, and it’s just a dumpster fire.” Now, the first source says the singer is opening up to finding love again. “Kelly would love to have a partner, and she will when the time is right,” shares the source. “She has so much on her shoulders, and it does get overwhelming, and it’s nice to have someone to lean on. But I can’t imagine her bringing someone into their lives right now.”
The entertainer is looking for a man who understands her hectic lifestyle and makes her laugh. “She needs some lightness back in her life,” says the source, adding that she’s unlikely to get married again. “Kelly jokes she never wanted to get married the first time around,” says the source. “And she’s pretty open about how badly her divorce affected her.” While discussing her split from Blackstock on her talk show in 2020, Clarkson said divorce “is horrible,” adding, “there are so many hard parts.” A few months prior, she said it’s “the worst thing ever for everyone involved.”
Kelly Clarkson and her late ex-husband Brandon Blackstock‘s private romance captivated fans for years until their split in 2020. The American Idol alum and the talent manager began dating in 2011 and things moved pretty quickly from then. The couple announced their engagement in December 2012 and tied the knot less than one year later. Clarkson […]
For now, Clarkson remains in NYC after relocating to the city from L.A. in 2023. “I’ve never really liked living in L.A.,” she said during an appearance on Today in 2023. “L.A. is beautiful, lots of things to offer that are awesome. It’s just never been my thing in 20 years, and so I never wanted to live there in the first place.”
The second source tells Us that the singer could be eyeing a move back to Tennessee, where she lived before her divorce. “NYC was fun initially, but then it became stressful. Kelly prefers the quality of life she had in Nashville,” explains the source. “It’s a slower [lifestyle] where she can focus on her creative projects at her own pace.”
The first source notes that it’s unlikely Clarkson will be making any major moves just yet. The family is “very happy with their NYC life,” and Clarkson “would not want to introduce any more change to their lives at the moment. She is taking it all day by day.” (Her talk show is set to conclude this fall.)
Saying goodbye to The Kelly Clarkson Show is bittersweet. “Everybody at the show loves her, and she loves everyone. It’s been super positive all around,” says the second source of the atmosphere behind the scenes. But she’s ready for what’s next. “Kelly wants to work on other projects,” adds the source. “She looks better than ever, and her brand is [doing well]. But she wants her music to be her legacy.”
For more on Clarkson, watch the exclusive video above and pick up the latest issue of Us Weekly — on newsstands now.
