Inspiring Before and After Photos of Kelly Clarkson’s Incredible Weight Loss
Plus, the singer's inspiring messages about body confidence and loving yourself at any weight
In recent days, three-time Grammy Award-winner and talkshow host Kelly Clarkson has been showing off a dramatic weight loss, and everyone is excited to find out what she’s been doing to shed the pounds.
On an episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show that aired on November 6th, the 41-year-old mom of two got real with Jenna Bush Hager and her twin sister Barbara Bush about their ever-changing bodies and their “chubby days.” Clarkson confessed that she’s “had many stages” of being heavier than she would have liked.
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“I love losing weight,” Clarkson said to Jenna and Barbara with a laugh, “but here’s the thing … jeans are so hard when you have a butt and a smaller waist.” The struggle is real!
Did Kelly Clarkson take Ozempic?
In January of 2024, Kelly Clarkson revealed to actor Kevin James while he was appearing on an episode of her hit talk show that she was pre-diabetic, prompting her to make a change that led to her weight loss.
“That was literally what happened…I wasn’t shocked,” Clarkson revealed. “I was a tiny bit overweight. So, yeah, but I wasn’t shocked by it. But they did. They were like, ‘You’re pre-diabetic. You’re right on the borderline.’ And I was like, ‘But I’m not there yet.’ And then I waited two years and then…I was like, ‘OK, I’ll do something about it.’”
The transformation Kelly Clarkson has made over the past few months has prompted conversation over whether or not she’s used Ozempic or other semaglutide weight loss drugs to achieve her results — but the singer has yet to address the rumors. Instead, she credits her new look to a series of lifestyle changes.
For Kelly, her new environment has made maintaining an active and healthy way of living much easier. With her talk show, The Kelly Clarkson Show, having recently relocated from Los Angeles to New York, Clarkson has taken advantage of her new digs.
“Walking in the city is quite the workout,” she said in a January interview with PEOPLE. “And I’m really into infrared saunas right now. And I just got a cold plunge because everybody wore me down.”
In terms of her diet, Clarkson said in the interview, “I eat a healthy mix. I dropped weight because I’ve been listening to my doctor — a couple years I didn’t. And 90 percent of the time I’m really good at it because a protein diet is good for me anyway. I’m a Texas girl, so I like meat — sorry, vegetarians in the world!”
Learning to ignore the criticism
The “Since You’ve Been Gone” singer has been open about her weight loss journey through the years — including admitting she suffered from bulimia in high school and addressing the hurtful criticism she’s received for her weight. “For 15 years of my life, no matter if I’m really thin or really not, [weight was] always a point of discussion,” she told Rolling Stone in 2017. “Even when I was on Idol, it was a discussion.”
Clarkson explained on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2015 that she “was the biggest girl” in the first season of American Idol, which she won in 2002. “And I wasn’t [actually] big, but people would call me big… I’ve kind of always gotten that.”
And while the comments got to her at times, Clarkson has found comfort in the fact that everyone’s body changes through our lives, and that’s okay. “It’s like, you’re just who you are. We are who we are. Whatever size, and it doesn’t mean that we’re gonna be that forever,” she continued to say on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2015. “That’s the thing. Sometimes we’re more fit. Like especially me, I’m such a creative person that I yo-yo. So sometimes I’m more fit and I get into kickboxing hardcore. And then sometimes I don’t, and I’m like…I’d rather have wine.”
Kelly’s talent speaks more for her than her body
In a 2020 interview with Glamour, Clarkson got candid about her way the people around her have viewed her body over the years, revealing that she felt more pressure when she was super thin and had unhealthy habits to compete with other women.
“…I felt more pressure,” she said. “It was more of magazines shoved in front of you and, ‘This is what you’re competing with and we’ve got to compete with it.’ I can’t compete with that. That’s not even my image. That’s not who I am. That’s who they are.”
“We’re all different and it’s okay,” she continued. “I fought more when I was thinner than I do now, because now I just walk in and I just look at them like, ‘I dare you to say something. I’m happy in my life. I’ll work on me in my time!”
She further revealed that she was hired on The Voice at her heaviest point right after she had kids, proving that her appearance at the time was irrelevant.
“Paul (Telegdy) hired me from NBC because he loved my personality, he loved that I connect with people and I’m really raw and real. It had nothing to do with my sex appeal or my look aesthetically. It had to do with me as a person. I think it’s really up to artists to force people to have that mentality.”
Carrying the flag of acceptance
Clarkson has also said that she feels called to speak out about the constant criticism of women’s bodies. “The media has always been obsessed with [my size]. And I have felt conflicted over the years. Do you address it? Do you talk about it? Because then you just add to the noise,” Clarkson said in an interview with Daily Mail in 2017. “But people like me [need] to talk about it, so I don’t really mind carrying that flag. I love that people come up to me and say: ‘Because you are comfortable in your skin, you have made me more comfortable in mine.’ That’s the best compliment ever.”
Whether the number on the scale is up or down, Clarkson has learned a valuable lesson: “I don’t obsess about my weight, which is probably one of the reasons why other people have such a problem with it,” she told Redbook in 2015. And Clarkson even channeled this acceptance into her music, specifically with her 2017 hit, “Whole Lotta Woman.”
“It was fun to write a song that said, ‘Yeah, you’re right, I am a whole lot of woman, and it’s ok,” said to Rolling Stone. “I came with a brain, and I came with drive and passion and sensuality, and these things that are awesome. If you can’t handle it, that’s totally cool, but you’re not tall enough to ride this ride, then move along. It’s fine.’ We put a fun twist on it.”
Related: Kelly Clarkson Gets Candid About Brandon Blackstock Relationship, Divorce and More
Regardless of where Kelly Clarkson is at in her weight loss journey, she has been an advocate for women feeling confident, proud and beautiful — no matter their weight.
And we agree 100 percent.
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