Kelly Clarkson Just Spilled a Shocking ‘American Idol’ Secret

To tell the story of Kelly Clarkson is to tell the story of American Idol. The Burleson, Texas native was just 20 years old when viewers crowned her the champion of the show’s inaugural season in 2002.

In the 23 years since then, both Clarkson and Idol have become household names. From winning multiple Grammy Awards to hosting her own daytime TV show, the “Miss Independent” singer, 42, is forever linked to the reality singing competition show. However, there was a time when Clarkson quite literally didn’t know what she signed up for.

Kelly Clarkson Didn’t Know That ‘American Idol’ Was a Show

Back in 2002, Kelly Clarkson walked onto the American Idol set and blew judges away with a soaring rendition of Etta James’ “At Last.” She would go on to beat out Justin Guarini as the show’s first-ever winner.

However, Clarkson revealed during a March 27 appearance on Kylie Kelce’s Not Gonna Lie podcast that she wasn’t initially aware that American Idol was a TV show. Instead, the “Stronger” singer showed up to set expecting a networking opportunity to get her foot in the door of the music industry.

“For all of us in that first season, we literally didn’t … I didn’t even know it was a TV show until my third audition,” Clarkson said. “Like, we were literally trying to pay our bills. We’re like, ‘Oh, this might work. I might meet someone, or whatever.’ Nobody knew it was gonna amount to anything.”

Of course, we now know that American Idol emerged as the surprise hit of summer 2002, with 12.7 million viewers tuning in for each episode. But at the time, TV ratings were the furthest thing from Clarkson’s mind.

“You know, 19 years old, just trying to pay my electric bill, y’all,” she said. “And afford the deductible on my car that was bashed in that I couldn’t afford. So it was a different thing.”

Clarkson Says People Were Initially “Really Cruel” About Her ‘Idol’ Win

Singing reality competition shows aren’t exactly a novelty these days. However, in 2002, American Idol was still an untested experiment that many believed doomed to fail. And Kelly Clarkson says that certain people in the industry weren’t exactly congratulatory at first.

“Like, [they] hated talent shows. And they ended up being on The Voice,” she told Kelce. “It’s like, okay, but people were really cruel at first. They didn’t like it. It took the industry kind of by storm, the talent shows. It was a very unlikable thing in the industry concerning the populace.”