Kelly Clarkson unveiled her shocking weight loss transformation earlier this month – and has been flaunting her toned frame on her talk show.
The American Idol winner, 41, has slimmed down after making ‘better life choices’ in the wake of her messy divorce and brutal custody battle from Brandon Blackstock, DailyMail.com shared exclusively last week.
Clarkson has spoken openly about her struggles with weight loss during her career after she was diagnosed with a thyroid condition in 2006.
In 2017 Kelly admitted she contemplated suicide after being forced to lose weight at the beginning of her music career.
The singer also opened up in November 2017 about being body-shamed, along with the likes of country music star Miranda Lambert.
As Kelly Clarkson continues to wow with her brand new look – DailyMail.com looks back at her most candid comments about her weight loss battles…
2015 – AMERICAN IDOL SCRUTINY
‘I was the biggest girl in the [American Idol cast],’ Kelly told Ellen DeGeneres in 2015. ‘And I wasn’t big, but people would call me big … I’ve kind of always gotten that.’
In an interview with REDBOOK that year, Clarkson said: ‘I don’t obsess about my weight, which is probably one of the reasons why other people have such a problem with it.’
‘There are just some people who are born skinny and with a great metabolism – that is not me. I wish I had a better metabolism.’
‘You always want what someone else has.’
2017 – CONTEMPLATED SUICIDE AFTER LOSING WEIGHT
In 2017 Kelly admitted she contemplated suicide after being forced to lose weight at the beginning of her music career.
In an interview with Attitude, the singer said the pressure to be thin for the sake of her career made her ‘miserable’.
‘When I was really skinny, I wanted to kill myself.’
The Because of You hitmaker – who previously battled an eating disorder when she was in high school – told the magazine that the period was a ‘very dark time’ in her career.
‘I thought the only way out was quitting. I, like, wrecked my knees and my feet, because all I would do is put in headphones and run.’
‘I was at the gym all the time.’
The musician later took to Twitter after the Attitude interview was released, stating she’s ‘never contemplated suicide’ because of her weight.
She clarified: ‘Just to clear something up. I wasn’t ever miserable because I had to be thin. I said I was miserable & as a result I became thin.
‘NOT TRUE! I’ve never contemplated suicide because of my weight. I said people had no idea I was unhappy oddly enough because I appeared healthy.’
Speaking to the Daily Mail that year Kelly referenced ‘all the fat jokes over the years’ and the criticism levelled at women: ‘Too skinny, too fat, too blonde – so much blah. This is who I am and I’m happy,’ she declared. ‘Happy looks different on everyone.’
‘The media has always been obsessed with it [her size],’ she says. ‘And I have felt conflicted over the years. Do you address it? Do you talk about it? Because then you just add to the noise. But people like me to talk about it, so I don’t really mind carrying that flag. I love that people come up to me and say: ‘Because you are comfortable in your skin, you have made me more comfortable in mine.’ That’s the best compliment ever.’
The singer also opened up in November 2017 about being body-shamed, along with the likes of country music star Miranda Lambert.
‘They shame you for it. Same thing happened with Miranda Lambert — I had dinner with her and we talking about that,’ Clarkson said, adding Lambert wondered if she should then gain or lose weight.
‘It’s when I’m fat that I’m happy. People think, ‘Oh, there’s something wrong with her. She’s putting on weight.”
I’m like, ‘Oh, no! I’m sorry, but that represents happiness in my emotional world. For me, when I’m skinny is usually when I’m not doing well,’ Clarkson added.
2018 – 37LBS WEIGHT LOSS
In 2018 The Voice coach took to social media with a very important proclamation regarding how she really feels about hitting the gym.
‘This just in,’ Kelly tweeted. ‘I still hate working out.’
‘I’m sweaty, red, and not any thinner,’ the singer added. ‘People say it’s good for your heart…. but people also say red wine is good for your heart.’
The star would later lose 37lbs due to reading a life-changing book and adopting a new diet.
I had an autoimmune disease and a thyroid problem that started in 2006,’ Kelly explained to Hoda Kotb. ‘I read this book, it’s called The Plant Paradox [by Steven R. Gundry, MD], and it might not work for you but it worked wonders for me.’
‘I’m, like, 37 pounds lighter,’ she said.
Kelly’s openness about the method that worked for her wasn’t enough to stop false diet rumors from circulating—but she was quick to shut them down.
‘Fake news that’s going around about me is that I’ve been taking weird pills 4 weight loss or doing weird fad diets,’ she wrote on Twitter, before confirming that these claims aren’t true. ‘I eat the same stuff I always have. It’s all just made w/different flours/sugars/ingredients.’
‘I read The Plant Paradox by Dr. Gundry,’ she explained. ‘He gives you yes & no lists 2 go by & tells why you should avoid things & basically it all comes down to lectins & inflammation.’ Kelly admitted that it as a ‘very detailed read’ that feels like a ‘science class,’ but promised that it has been helpful for her.
‘Here’s the best part, y’all. It’s not even the weight,’ she told The Today Show in June. ‘I mean, I know the industry loves the weight gone, but for me it wasn’t really the weight, for me it was [that] I’m not on medicine anymore.’
2020 – MUSIC INDUSTRY PRESSURE
In 2020 the star admitted that she felt ‘more pressure’ in the music industry when she was thin.
The Since U Been Gone singer said that she used to be shown naked magazine covers of women and told ‘this is what you’re competing with’.
Speaking in a candid interview with Glamour UK, Kelly revealed that she is now ‘happy’ in her life and even thinks ‘I dare you to say something’ when she walks into meetings.
The star, who won the first season of American Idol in 2002, said: ‘I felt more pressure from people actually when I was thin, when I was really thin and not super healthy because I just was worn out, just working so hard and not keeping healthy habits.
‘But I felt more pressure. It was more of magazines shoved in front of you and, ‘This is what you’re competing with and we’ve got to compete with it.’ I can’t compete with that. That’s not even my image. That’s not who I am. That’s who they are.’
Kelly added that the magazine covers would have a naked woman on them and she insisted that even in her ‘thinnest, most fit moment’ she would never do nude snaps.
The star continued: ‘We’re all different and it’s okay. I fought more when I was thinner than I do now, because now I just walk in and I just look at them like, ‘I dare you to say something. I’m happy in my life. I’ll work on me in my time!”
Kelly also spoke about her role as a coach on The Voice US and added that she was hired at her ‘heaviest point’.
The star said that she was employed because of her ‘personality’ and not just because of her ‘sex appeal’.
Yet during that time, Kelly has battled critics over her fluctuating weight. In 2018, a troll cruelly tweeted: ‘You’re fat’ to which the singer hit back with: ‘and still f***ing awesome.’
OCTOBER 2023 – TRANSFORMED FIGURE
The 41-year-old singer fueled speculation that she had turned to surgery – or the new celebrity favorite, Ozempic – to shed the pounds when she debuted her weight loss.
Kelly, who is reportedly ready to jump back into the dating pool two years after her messy divorce from ex Brandon Blackstock, 46, is said to be eating well and working out the ‘old-fashioned way’ – but some say she could have had a ‘little nudge’ to help get in shape.
‘Honestly no one knows how Kelly did it, but it was definitely not surgery,’ an insider told DailyMail.com exclusively.
‘She has been eating well, working out. She has a team of people to help her with nutrition and exercise, but she always takes good care of herself.
‘However, it goes without saying that she had a little nudge from somewhere.’
The insider, who works on The Kelly Clarkson Show, claimed she was ready to meet a ‘good man’ after feeling under appreciated by her ex.
‘She looks fabulous and feels fabulous so there is nothing to hate on at all,’ they said.
‘Kelly is back in the dating pool, and she is going to find herself a good man after the train wreck divorce she went through.
‘He didn’t appreciate her, and Kelly needs a man to appreciate her like the goddess she is.’
Kelly has yet to publicly address her transformation, but a second source has insisted that she will speak openly with fans if she has used Ozempic.
‘If she were to have taken Ozempic, or if she were to take it in the future, she would be the first person to share that with the world,’ they said.
‘She wouldn’t keep that a secret. She is very transparent and real, and that is the person she always has been. Kelly doesn’t BS anyone.’
Her divorce, relocating from Los Angeles to New York City, and wanting to be ‘healthier’ for her children – River Rose, nine, and Remington Alexander, seven – are all thought to be behind her decision to focus on her well-being.
‘She is now in New York, and the stresses of divorce and those who talked about the toxic work environment at her show have really taken all the toll they could, and now her well-being and health are more of a focus for her and that improvement is now happening,’ the source continued.
‘She is making better life decisions and making decisions that are right for her and her family.
‘Now that she is a single mom, she wants to be healthy for her kids and be around for a long time, so just like everything else, she has maintained her new life and her weight with a structure of doing things the old-fashioned way, through hard work.’
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
