Kelly Clarkson Is Back With Talk Show After Ex Brandon Blackstock’s Death

The Kelly Clarkson Show‘s Season 7 premiere on Monday, September 29 marked Kelly Clarkson‘s first time back on the small screen since the death of her ex-husband, Brandon Blackstock.

The show’s music director Jason Halbert shared details about the new season in an interview with USA Today. While speaking with the outlet at the show’s premiere taping last week, Halbert noted that the series’ return was “emotional for all of us,” not just Clarkson.

“I don’t know how [Clarkson] compartmentalizes watching that segment, super emotional, and then jumping into, like, making crafts with kids, and then jumping into emoting a song,” he shared. “A lot happened for us all in the last year, on personal and career levels. You’re going to see some songs reflect things that maybe she wouldn’t talk about verbally in a sitting on the couch interview.”

For showrunner Alex Duda, Season 7 is all about showing how “communities can come together and try to rebuild.” For example, Monday’s prerecorded episode featured a sit-down interview between Clarkson and several individuals who saved lives during the deadly Texas Hill Country floods earlier this summer.

“That’s what we’ve done since the beginning. When the world is dark or heavy, look for the light,” Duda added. “We wanted to reaffirm that in our premiere this year.”

In addition to speaking with Texas flood heroes, Monday’s premiere also featured Clarkson chatting with Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell about their new movie, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey. As for the first “Kellyoke” cover of the season, Clarkson embraced this season’s theme of “light” and wowed fans with her rendition of “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd.

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Monday’s episode marked Clarkson’s first since Blackstock’s passing. Just one day after news of Blackstock’s death at the age of 45 broke, Clarkson announced on August 6 that she was postponing several of her Las Vegas residency shows to support Blackstock and their kids amid his illness. (The former spouses share daughter River, 11, and son Remy, 9.)

“It is with great sadness that we share the news that Brandon Blackstock has passed away. Brandon bravely battled cancer for more than three years,” Blackstock’s family shared in an August 7 statement to People. “He passed away peacefully and was surrounded by family. We thank you for your thoughts and prayers and ask everyone to respect the family’s privacy during this very difficult time.”

Jeff Kravitz / FilmMagic

Clarkson has yet to publicly address Blackstock’s death. However, she returned to social media for the first time since postponing her Las Vegas shows to celebrate the anniversary of her 2002 American Idol win.

“To everyone that took time 23 years ago to call in and vote for me, thank you ,” she captioned her September 4 Instagram post. “Winning American Idol changed my life and I will be forever grateful for all of you that have supported me for so many years. It is a gift to find your purpose and passion, and to be able to make a living doing it is the cherry on top. Thank you, always.”

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