Kelly Clarkson’s Body Through the Years

Comfortable in her skin! Kelly Clarkson has learned to embrace her body through all of its fluctuations from her debut on American Idol to giving birth to two children.

The “Miss Independent” singer was first publicly criticized for her weight when she skyrocketed to fame in 2002 on American Idol season 1.

“I was the biggest girl in the [American Idol cast] too,” Clarkson said on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2015. “And I wasn’t big, but people would call me big … I’ve kind of always gotten that.”

She added, “I think what hurts my feelings for people is that I’ll have a meet and greet after the show, and a girl who’s bigger than me will be in the meet and greet and be like, ‘Wow, if they think you’re big, I must be so fat to them.’ And it’s like, you’re just who you are. We are who we are — whatever size.”

The Texas native and her estranged husband, Brandon Blackstock, later welcomed their daughter, Rose, in 2014 and son, Remington, in 2016. One year later, Clarkson became a judge on The Voice. The “Stronger” singer told Glamour U.K. in June 2020 that she was at her “heaviest point” when she joined the NBC series.

The Grammy winner showed off a slimmer figure in June 2018. Clarkson revealed at the time on the Today show that she lost 37 pounds after changing her diet to “non-GMO, no pesticides, eating really organic.”

Later that year, Clarkson told Redbook that she doesn’t equate looking skinny with being healthy.

“It’s when I’m fat that I’m happy. People think, ‘Oh, there’s something wrong with her. She’s putting on weight,’” she said at the time. “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.”

The Kelly Clarkson Show host echoed the same sentiment in her June 2020 interview with Glamour U.K., where she explained that she’s accepted her body’s imperfections as positives.

“There are always things that happen that come up that bum you out, but at the same time, you’ve got to recognize … it’s made you who you are,” Clarkson said. “I’m a very strong individual. I’m very confident, and I’ve been forced to find that in myself.”

Scroll down to see Kelly Clarkson’s body evolution through the years.