Kelly Clarkson Says She Left ‘The Voice’ Because She Was “Struggling” And Couldn’t “Smile Anymore”

Kelly Clarkson can breathe for the first time. Ahead of The Kelly Clarkson Show‘s Season 5 premiere, the “Since U Been Gone” singer revealed exactly why she decided to leave The Voice once and for all.

Clarkson appeared as a judge on the hit singing competition show from Season 14 to Season 21, before making a brief return for Season 23. While her team won four of her nine seasons, she ultimately decided to step away when she realized she was spreading herself too thin.

“Full disclosure, I put on a smile a lot of those times because I was struggling a lot in my personal life,” Clarkson told USA Today. “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.” 

During her time on the show, the American Idol alum worked alongside celebs like Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, John Legend, Nick Jonas, Ariana Grande and Niall Horan. Despite having no problems with her co-workers, her personal struggles still found a way to seep through.

“I love that family, but I was like, ‘I’m struggling. I can’t smile anymore. I don’t feel like smiling,'” she added.

The Voice isn’t the only series Clarkson faked a smile for. The singer — who filed for divorce from Brandon Blackstock in 2020 after seven years of marriage — admitted she was also “really unhappy” during the early seasons of her self-titled daytime talk show.

“It’s interesting: I did a really good job of smiling and showing up for work and compartmentalizing my personal life for a few years,” she told Daily Beast’s Obsessed. “Because I was really unhappy. It was really hard. I just was never fully present.”

She continued, “If I’m being completely honest, I don’t know that I was ever really fully present even from Season 1, because the struggle happens, obviously, before you end up getting divorced. There’s stuff happening before you make that announcement.”

Now that Clarkson has packed her bags and moved her show from Los Angeles to New York City for the “fresh start” she desperately needed, she is ready to smile again — and mean it.

“This will be the first season I’m fully present and not incredibly sad deep inside,” she said. “That’s going to be new for me: showing up and actually meaning it when I smile.”

I suppose one could say she’s so moving on (yeah, yeah)!

The Kelly Clarkson Show airs on weekdays. Check the website for local listings.