Kelly Clarkson On How Blake Shelton Got Her To Join ‘The Voice’ Over ‘American Idol’

Kelly Clarkson is revealing why she signed up as a coach on The Voice despite being offered a spot on the judging panel of the revamped American Idol, the talent search she won back in 2002.

It was confirmed earlier this year that Kelly would be heading to the NBC show alongside Adam Levine and Blake Shelton for Season 14, and now she’s revealing how the latter influenced her decision.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly in a new cover feature, the star revealed that her decision was actually influenced by her relationship with Blake and what would be best for her family, particularly her two children, three-year-old River Rose and one-year-old Remington Alexander.

“I want it to be a great experience for my whole family, and that’s what I have to think about at this point in my life,” Kelly said of why she seemingly snubbed the show that made her a household name to join its rival show.

She explained that her husband Brandon Blackstock, who also serves as her manager, also manages the career of Blake and is often backstage at the NBC show with the country star. That means she and her two children are already familiar with The Voice and what goes on behind the scenes.

“We’re used to The Voice schedule, we already have to work around it because of our family,” Kelly said of why she ultimately chose a seat on the NBC series over her former home American Idol, adding that she’d actually been in talks to sit alongside Blake and Adam for years but always had to turn down producers’ offers because she was pregnant.

“We have four children — that can be very taxing with a schedule,” she continued, referring to her two step-children, Seth and Savannah Blackstock. “It was just a no-brainer for me with The Voice because of that alone.”

But just because she chose The Voice, Kelly explained that there’s certainly no bad blood between herself and American Idol – which she became the first ever winner of back in 2002 – because she turned down their offer to judge.

“I was kind of bummed too when [Idol] came to me,” the “Since U Been Gone” singer explained, admitting that she hopes the revamped version of the series is “super successful” when it debuts on ABC next year.

“Would it have been awesome to come back to the show that started me and help give someone that start? Yes!” she added. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t do the same thing on The Voice. That’s my goal. I want to have someone on my team, whether they win or not, to have a successful career after being on the show.”

Sources confirmed earlier this year that she was in the running to become a judge on the re-vamped ABC version of the talent search and it was largely assumed that Clarkson would be the first officially announced American Idol judge.

However, just days after the speculation began, Blake shockingly announced in a Facebook Live video that Kelly would actually be heading to The Voice in early 2018.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jeWKmpsF3g&t=1s

Blake confirmed that Kelly would be joining the show as a coach on Season 14 in May.

He described her as being “a very near and dear friend” in the video and continued to gush over Clarkson by claiming that he already considers her to be family because of their connection via his manager.

“We have felt as a family at The Voice that this person would fit in perfectly,” he added, to which Kelly joked that the country star needs to “watch out” when she joins the show next year.

And it sounds like there’s going to be some rivalry despite their friendship, as Clarkson teased earlier this year that she’s going to “annihilate” Gwen Stefani’s man when they go head-to-head.

The Voice Season 13 is set to debut on September 18 on NBC, while Kelly Clarkson’s season is expected to debut in February 2018.

[Featured Image by Michael Buckner/Getty Images for Celebrity Fight Night]