Kelly Clarkson wants to make things very, very clear: she does not have a long-standing feud with Carrie Underwood.
Of course, the two women will always be inextricably linked as their respective rises to fame are matched only by one another. After each winning early, formative seasons of American Idol — Kelly in the inaugural run, and Carrie in season 4 — the two lovely ladies crooned their way into superstardom. They’re arguably the only genuine pop icons to come out of the reality competition.
But being the top two hasn’t come without drama!! For years now, online rumors and social media rumbles have claimed the 41-year-old Clarkson and the 40-year-old Underwood are somehow secretly at odds with each other.
Related: Kelly ‘Wouldn’t Have Made It’ Through Bitter Divorce Without Antidepressants
Andy Cohen used Tuesday night’s Watch What Happens Live aftershow to take aim at that supposed rift. During Kelly’s post-show sit-down, the Bravo exec called on a viewer who patched in via video conferencing to ask a question.
Well… sort of. Before the viewer could get out her full query about Underwood, Kelly interrupted her:
“I think I know where you’re going with this. People always pit us together, and we don’t even know each other well enough to be pitted together.”
The Since U Been Gone singer then quickly added:
“Literally, we’ve run into each other a handful of times. There’s no beef between us.”
But that wasn’t actually the viewer’s question!
While she may have mentioned Carrie by name, the woman didn’t want to know about the (non) feud! Instead, the fan wanted to know about the time Carrie was a virtual guest on The Kelly Clarkson Show via Zoom back in early 2021!
Oops!!!
Clearly embarrassed by jumping the gun and assuming the WRONG question, Clarkson ran back to the on-set bar to refresh her drink.
Related: Kelly Talks ‘Angry’ New Music, Nasty Divorce, And… Rebounding With Pete Davidson?!
Then, after the viewer finished her full query, the Texan explained why she takes such issue with feud rumors:
“Everybody always asks me the ‘pitted against each other’ question. The thing that was cool about it is that everybody always pits us against each other. They don’t do that with dudes. They only do that with females. And I’m like, ‘we don’t even know each other well enough to do that.'”
So there you have it!
As for hosting Carrie on another talk show appearance, Kelly said she’d love to have the country crooner on again — and in person this time — whenever possible! Clarkson concluded:
“But I’d love to have her there in person. It was during COVID, so it was over Zoom. Which was fine, you know. But it’d be cool [to interview Underwood in person].”
You can watch the entire exchange (below):
Too funny!
Kelly clearly got flustered by trying to get out ahead of the feud Q. But now we know the whole story! Or… was she being too defensive about it, and the overzealous interruption is suddenly sus?!?! Hmm…
What do U think, Perezcious readers?? Share your thoughts down in the comments (below)!
[Image via Watch What Happens Live/YouTube/WENN/Instar]