Kelly Clarkson has opened up about why she ended her daytime talk show as she gets ready to be a coach on the upcoming Season 29 of “The Voice.”
The Grammy-winning singer spoke alongside fellow “Voice” coach John Legend on TODAY Feb. 20 about why she decided now was a good time to bring the show to a close after seven seasons.
“I think everybody probably gets the timing,” she told Carson Daly. “Our family life, the dynamic changed a bit, and it has changed for a minute now. 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, too. It’s like, ‘You know what, I’m really busy.’”
Clarkson is a mom to daughter River Rose, 11, and son Remy, 9, whom she welcomed with her late ex-husband, Brandon Blackstock. He died at 48 in August 2025 after three years of being treated for cancer.
Brandon Blackstock has passed away. He died at 48 after battling cancer, his rep revealed in a statement to Access Hollywood on Aug. 7.
“I was like, ‘I know everybody thinks she’s like quitting,’” Clarkson said about the show. “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.”
The decision was a difficult one for Clarkson between the success of the show and the close-knit relationship with the staff.
“That’s what was really hard,” she said. “I work with a lot of people here, too. The crew’s been incredible, it wasn’t that the show isn’t doing well. That’s what kind of sucked, everything was going well, and that’s what was really hard.
“That was a really hard thing for me, but an easy decision as a momma.”
Clarkson and Legend also gave a preview of Season 29 of “The Voice”— which features a new wrinkle, in that there will only be three coaches instead of the usual four. Out of her nine previous seasons on the show, Clarkson is a four-time winning coach.
“I have won the most, if you’re counting,” she joked. “It was part of my pitch.”
Her team will face off against teams coached by two other icons of the hit NBC talent show, Legend and Adam Levine, in “The Voice: Battle of Champions.” Clarkson also said on TODAY the show will be bringing back some past champions this season as she makes her return to “The Voice” for the first time since Season 23 in 2023.
“I’ve been gone for a while, so it worked, scheduling,” she said.
Kelly Clarkson returned to social media after the death of her ex-husband Brandon Blackstock with a special message for fans.
As a veteran of “The Voice,” Clarkson still enjoys the Blind Audition segments where the coaches sit in swivel chairs with their backs turned and can only hear the singers performing behind them but can’t look at them.
“I love games in general, and I love just being competitive in general, but I do love not knowing who’s behind you,” she said. “And then you have this idea in your head, and you turn around, and I am 90% of the time wrong, like every time. You keep thinking, we’ve done this so many times, there can’t possibly be someone just incredible, and wow.”
“Every season, America just keeps giving us great singers,” Legend said.
The new season premieres on Feb. 23 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC and will be available to stream on Peacock the next day.
Clarkson’s return to “The Voice” comes less than a month after she announced on Instagram Feb. 2 that “The Kelly Clarkson Show” was coming to an end after seven seasons.
“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,” she wrote. “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.”
She shared that her family was a key part of the decision.
“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 wrote.
New episodes of Season 7 of “The Kelly Clarkson Show” will air through fall 2026, according to a press release. Since debuting in 2019, the show has racked up two dozen Daytime Emmy awards and achieved continued virality for Clarkson’s signature “Kellyoke” performances.
This story first appeared in TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
