She is totally back.
Kelly Clarkson’s show staff are delighted to see the star, who displayed “erratic” behavior during ex-husband Brandon Blackstock’s secret health struggles, return to her old, cheerful self.
“It seems like the old Kelly is back again. She was so missed,” an anonymous staffer told the Daily Mail in an article published Wednesday.
A source claimed that the 43-year-old host of “The Kelly Clarkson Show” has become “much more talkative again.”
“She would stop by our desk and have a conversation, ask about her family, gossip and joke around,” the source said.
The staffer recalled Clarkson’s erratic behavior just a few months earlier and pointed to low morale among the show’s staff.
“She was completely different from what she was like before,” the staff member said. “It was difficult for people not to take it personally. Like, what did we do to suddenly be ignored like this?”
After Clarkson was absent from the show in March, citing a mysterious “family emergency,” rumors swirled that Hoda Kotb would replace her.
“So we were all looking for other jobs. We forwarded job postings to each other and networked with each other. A lot of us were ready to quit,” the source said. “No disrespect to Hoda, but we had no idea what was going on or if we even had a job.”
In August, Clarkson canceled the remaining performances of his Las Vegas residency, citing Blackstone’s illness, disappointing fans. (Clarkson and Blackstock finalized their divorce in 2022 after a two-year custody battle over their two children, River Rose, 11, and Remy, 9. They married in 2013.)
When news broke on August 7 that Mr. Blackstock had passed away at the age of 48 after a secret two-year battle with cancer, staff members finally understood the change in Mr. Clarkson’s personality.
“Suddenly it was obvious to everyone,” the staffer said. “And, well, did we feel terrible? We were too quick to judge Kelly. We didn’t understand what she was going through. We took everything into our own hands.”
The source added: “This shows that we should never jump to conclusions. We just don’t know.”
Page Six exclusively reported in August that Clarkson helped care for his ex-girlfriend while she battled melanoma.
She made an emotional return to her eponymous talk show in September, but did not directly address Mr. Blackstock’s death.
Page Six has reached out to representatives for Clarkson and NBC for comment.
