Watch: Kelly Clarkson Refers To Her TV Body As ‘Fake News’ In ‘The Voice’ Unseen Footage
NBC Reading Time: 3 minutes
Kelly Clarkson has long been seen as something of an icon of body positivity, and with good reason. She’s down-to-earth and honest about pretty much everything, but it’s especially inspiring when she talks openly about her size and appearance.
Take this week on The Voice for an example. During a segment of unaired footage from the show, someone in the crowd screamed, “Kelly, you look great!” Kelly immediately responded, “Oh, girl, this is all fake news. Fake hair, fake lashes, really tight Spanx.” Check out the funny moment below.
The entertainment industry is extremely preoccupied with looks, and keeping up the illusion that celebrities “woke up like this.” So it’s refreshing to see a star being honest about what really goes into that TV-ready look.
Kelly Clarkson Gets Honest About Her Onscreen Look
It’s not the first time the American Idol winner has spoken honestly about her appearance. Last year, she filmed her getting-ready process on the night Brynn Cartelli won The Voice. She said she did it “so every little girl out there knows that no one really looks like this without a great team and #magic” and “to celebrate honesty.”
When fans and the media speculated that Kelly had lost weight last year, she gave her team another shout-out. “I have to shout out my whole glam squad,” she told Entertainment Tonight. “I literally hired Harry Potter and SPANX, it’s all like a sausage.”
Kelly Clarkson Talks Body Positivity
Kelly told the Daily Mail in 2017 that the media is “obsessed” with her size, and she’s been “conflicted” over whether to talk about it publicly, not wanting to “add to the noise.”
“But people like me to talk about it, so I don’t really mind carrying that flag,” she said. “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.”
Kelly has also said she wants to be open about her weight to set an example for the young women in her life, including her own daughter. “Obviously, this is not my goal weight, if anyone’s asking, but I had two kids,” she told Redbook, pointing out that how much she weighs “ain’t gonna change how I sound.”
Kelly has previously brushed off body shamers. In 2015, British columnist Katie Hopkins tweeted that Kelly looked like she had eaten her backup singers. Kelly told Heat World, “That’s because she doesn’t know me. I’m awesome! It doesn’t bother me. It’s a free world. Say what you will.” She added that she has “never cared what people think.”
Although Kelly has said that her weight fluctuates, she doesn’t let it define her. “I don’t obsess about my weight, which is probably one of the reasons why other people have such a problem with it,” she told Redbook. In fact, she has even said that she’s usually happier when she’s bigger.
Body Positivity In Kelly Clarkson’s Career
Kelly released a song on her album Meaning of Life called “Whole Lotta Woman.” She performed the song during her hosting gig at the 2018 Billboard Music Awards.
Kelly told Rolling Stone that it was partly a response to years of chatter about her appearance. She says she wanted the song to say, “Yeah, you’re right, I am a whole lot of woman, and it’s ok. I came with a brain, and I came with drive and passion and sensuality, and these things that are awesome.”
Kelly is also sending a body-positive message through her new film UglyDolls. She voices the protagonist in the movie, which is all about accepting yourself for who you are. Kelly even recorded a song for the movie called “Broken & Beautiful,” which includes the empowering lyric, “Can someone just hold me? / Don’t fix me / Don’t try to change a thing.”
We’re always a fan of Kelly’s realness, and look forward to hearing what other inspiring things she has to say in the future.
