Kelly Clarkson is ready to smile again with talk show's move to NYC: 'A weight has lifted'

NEW YORK ― Kelly Clarkson is a Texas girl through and through. But the Fort Worth native is already starting to walk and talk like a New Yorker.

The Grammy-winning singer relocated daytime's "The Kelly Clarkson Show" from Los Angeles to the Big Apple for its fifth season (premiering Monday; check local listings). When she’s not unpacking boxes, Clarkson, 41, has been eagerly taking in the city: cheering on her Dallas Cowboys at a New York Giants game and watching friend Chelsea Handler do standup at the legendary Beacon Theatre. She's downloaded several New York City subway apps, has a favorite slice spot on her corner, and has so far survived the usual horror show of Manhattan real estate.

“At this point, I’m 40 years old. Mama rented something nice!” Clarkson says with a laugh, sitting at a studio just blocks away from her talk show’s new home in 30 Rockefeller Plaza. “I was like, ‘I’m not living here unless it’s right by the park and really nice for the kids.’”

Clarkson shares two children with ex-husband Brandon Blackstock: River Rose, 9, and Remington, 7. The pair split in 2020 and finalized their divorce last year, which was partly what prompted the change of address.

“I’ll be real honest: I thought I was making a horrible decision,” Clarkson says of her apprehension before the move. “I knew I needed a fresh start and couldn’t be in LA. I really wanted to be in Montana, but you can’t really do a show from there quite yet. So I was like, ‘The only other option would probably be New York.'"

After just a few weeks, she's sold on the city: "I genuinely love it, and I love that my kids love it.”

Listen:Kelly Clarkson's daughter River Rose sings on 'You Don't Make Me Cry'

Kelly Clarkson is opening doors to more music, people on daytime talk show

Taping her Season 5 premiere last Wednesday, Clarkson received a rambunctious New York welcome from an audience entirely comprised of apartment and hotel doorpeople (the city’s “unsung heroes,” as she explained). Throughout the episode, she spotlighted Lenny Faverey, a TikTok-famous “dancing doorman;” Correll Jones, a beloved longtime greeter at 30 Rock; and Noel Maguire, a Park Avenue doorman who started a foundation to help the city’s unhoused population.

As the taping wrapped, she cheerfully snapped photos and chanted along with the rowdy “rival” doormen in the room. “Lookin’ good, Kelly!” one man whooped, prompting another to shout, “You look beautiful!” That level of enthusiasm is par for the course, says Jason Halbert, who has been Clarkson’s music director since 2003, shortly after she was crowned the first "American Idol."

“When people go nuts like that, we’re like, ‘Oh yeah, she’s a superstar,’” Halbert says after the taping. “Moving to New York has given us all a renewed sense of energy. We can tell Kelly just has this spark in her step right now that’s exciting to see.”

Because NBCUniversal produces the syndicated show, other NBC talent was naturally on hand to welcome her to 30 Rock, including "Late Night" host Seth Meyers and "Today" hosts Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager. Once home to David Letterman and (briefly) Megyn Kelly, the series' new digs in Studio 6A are cozier than the sprawling space on the Universal lot where she previously taped. Vintage speakers and guitars are scattered across exposed brick walls. Wooden shelves and coffee tables brim with sunflowers, knickknacks and vinyl records.

The audience, too, is seated closer to Clarkson, who plans to incorporate even more music into her typical rotation of celebrity interviews, games and human-interest stories. Alanis Morissette kicks off the return of the popular “Songs and Stories” series, while a new segment invites street musicians to perform.

“They wanna do their version of ‘The Voice,’ almost,” teases executive producer Alex Duda. “There’s so much undiscovered talent around the city. Go out, bring them back and just play with the band. Why not?”

“We’re definitely going to be on the streets and doing different things that we weren’t capable of in LA because it’s so spread out," Clarkson adds. "People that watch daytime television want to laugh and cry at a beautiful performance. They want to be inspired."

After personal struggles, she's smiling again and 'actually meaning it'

In person, Clarkson is as hilarious and warm as you’d imagine, chatting about her deep love of queso dip and the musical “Wicked,” as well as her oddball childhood. (“I used to put a paperclip on my teeth and pretend I had braces,” she recalls.) She’s self-deprecating when it comes to the show’s daily “Kellyoke” segments, which frequently go viral as she covers her favorite songs by artists including Radiohead, Sara Bareilles and Dolly Parton.

“I came in via a talent show, so I don’t think anyone’s really thought of me as John Lennon or anything,” Clarkson quips. “The karaoke thing could’ve been a big joke, but I think I just leaned into, ‘This is how I entered the industry.’ And I love other people’s music and don’t want to sing mine all the time, although my mother has informed me that I should sing more (original songs). I’m like, ‘OK, Mom.’”

Heeding mom's advice, she begins Season 5 with a rousing performance of "I Won't Give Up," from the deluxe version of new album "Chemistry." The song is a fitting anthem for Clarkson, who since launching her show in 2019 has weathered a pandemic as well as seismic changes in the daytime landscape, with Dr. Phil, Ellen DeGeneres and Wendy Williams among those leaving their posts.

Earlier this year, "The Kelly Clarkson Show" was met with toxic workplace claims against some of the series' producers. Clarkson told USA TODAY in June that she was unaware of the alleged mistreatment and was "already" working to make changes.

Daytime programs such as "The View" and "The Drew Barrymore Show" also earned scrutiny last month, after resuming taping before the Writers Guild of America strike ended. As a songwriter, Clarkson could understand what the Hollywood writers were fighting for, having witnessed firsthand the negative impact of streaming and artificial intelligence on the music industry. That's why it was important for her to shut down production when the strike began in early May.

"I felt in my gut, 'This is what we should do,' so we made the decision as a team to end Season 4 and stand with them," Clarkson says. "I had a lot of hard conversations with people like, 'Hey, we don't know if the show is going to make it if you don't come back.' But that's gotta be the hard decision, and it sucks. I don't think people realize, with a lot of the people that got blowback, the stress of that decision."

Starting this new chapter in New York, Clarkson says she's the happiest she's been in a long time. Not only is her divorce behind her, but she's also learned to not spread herself so thin, which led to her exit as a coach on NBC's "The Voice" last spring.

Through the last four seasons of her daytime show, "full disclosure, I put on a smile a lot of those times because I was struggling a lot in my personal life," Clarkson says. "I've learned a lot about what I'm capable of handling, and also what you should not handle. That was me saying 'bye' to 'The Voice' and having this big move. I love that family, but I was like, 'I'm struggling. I can't smile anymore. I don't feel like smiling.'

"What's cool for me with Season 5 is I am in such a great place, not only with my kids, but with me personally and with the show," Clarkson continues. "I feel like a weight has lifted. That move was very needed. I think the thing I'm most excited about with Season 5, on a selfish level, is just showing up to work smiling and actually meaning it. That's a beautiful gift that you don't realize until you're out of it."