Kelly Clarkson Explains ‘Difficult’ Decision to End Talk Show After 7 Seasons
Kelly Clarkson he made the right decision to end his family The Kelly Clarkson Show after seven seasons.
“I think everybody probably finds time,” Clarkson, 43, said on the Friday, February 20, episode Today. “Our family life, the dynamic changed a little bit, and it’s changed in just a minute, so I think … it’s one of those things where you start to see life for how precious it is.”
Clarkson announced earlier this month that she was leaving her self-titled daytime series to focus on her children. Clarkson shares River Rose, 11, and Remington, 9, with ex-husband Brandon Blackstockwho died in 2025 at the age of 48 after a battle with cancer. (Blackstock is also survived by his two older children from a previous marriage.)
“I know everyone’s thinking, ‘Oh, he’s quitting,’ but I still have other jobs,” Clarkson insisted Today an anchor Carson Daly. “I’m still doing things. There’s too much on my plate. So I was like, you know, it’s time to step back.”
He continued, “It’s amazing, that’s what was really difficult [because] The team was amazing. … That was a really difficult thing for me, but an easy decision there as a mother.”
The Kelly Clarkson Show premiered on NBC in September 2019, and Clarkson filmed the show in Los Angeles. The singer moved to New York City in the fall of 2023 during his family’s move to the East Coast.
“I talked to my team back in January in tears because I’ve built an amazing group of people,” Clarkson said during a TalkShopLive broadcast in May 2023. “Obviously we’ve been very successful and I love everyone I work with and we have a great relationship. I was like, ‘Guys, I need you to know what’s going on. Either I can’t go to the East Coast or I can’t go on the show.’
He continued, “My family is like that [on the] East Coast. They are based in North Carolina. It was one of those things where I had to do it. And, there were a lot of personal things going on, too. I feel like our family – me and my kids – really needed a fresh start and I couldn’t find it here [in Los Angeles]. There were hiccups after things.”
While announcing that The Kelly Clarkson ShowThe seventh season will be the last, Clarkson jumped into the community he built behind the scenes.
“I have been very fortunate to work with such an outstanding group of people The Kelly Clarkson ShowLos Angeles and New York,” he said in a statement shared with him Us Weekly. “There have been so many amazing moments and shows over these seven seasons. I am forever grateful and honored to have worked with the greatest team and crew you could ever 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 NBC for being such a supportive and amazing partner.”
At the time, Clarkson added, “With all of that, it wasn’t an easy decision, but this season will be my last host. The Kelly Clarkson Show. Breaking away from the daily routine will allow me to put my children first, which feels necessary and appropriate for this next chapter of our lives.”
Clarkson reiterated that “this is not goodbye” as she plans to continue making music, producing shows and appearing on Voice “occasionally.”
“You never know where I might come from next,” he concluded in his statement. “But for now, I want to thank you so much for allowing our show to be a part of your lives, and for believing in us and staying with us for seven amazing years.”
