WASHINGTON — Kelly Clarkson has quickly become a daytime TV staple, but her recent absence from her talk show has fans somewhat worried and wondering where she could be.
Over the past two weeks, a handful of celebrities have stepped in to guest host episodes of “The Kelly Clarkson Show.”
It started on Monday, March 3, when actor Simu Liu seemingly took on hosting duties at the last-minute. He quipped at the top of the show that he had a confession to make: “I am not Kelly Clarkson. I know this may shock many of you. But Kelly actually isn’t able to make it today, we’re sending her our very best.”
“Here’s the thing, I did not know that I was doing this until about five minutes ago when I arrived here to promote my new movie, ‘Last Breath,’ which is in theaters right now,” Liu explained.
According to Entertainment Weekly, a source told the outlet that Clarkson is not sick, but wouldn’t give more details about why she missed that particular show.
While Clarkson hosted the episodes that aired on Tuesday and Wednesday of that week, comedian Roy Wood Jr. guest hosted on Thursday and Wanda Sykes was there on Friday.
According to the show’s schedule posted on social media, there will be guest hosts throughout the rest of this week too. Brooke Shields hosted Monday and Tuesday, Willie Geist will be there Wednesday and Molly Sims will wrap up the week with Thursday and Friday’s episodes.
Fan comments on the schedule post have ranged from concern for Clarkson to urging everyone to give her some privacy: “Is kelly okay???,” “I respect Kelly Clarkson’s privacy, but I am very concerned about her,” “Have missed Kelly on the show recently, hope she is well and enjoying her well deserved break.”
Clarkson and her show have yet to publicly address why she has been missing, beyond Simu Liu’s comments on March 3.
“The Kelly Clarkson Show” is currently in its sixth season and has already been renewed for a seventh. Clarkson is also doing a Las Vegas residency this summer at Caesars Palace from July 4-August 16.