Kelly Clarkson is celebrating a major milestone just days after her return to her talk show The Kelly Clarkson Show after some time off the air.
The singer and TV personality is marking 1000 episodes of the NBC talk show, which debuted in September 2019 and is now knee-deep into its sixth season.
The 1000th episode aired on March 20, featuring guests Tyler Perry and Alicia Vikander, plus a performance by Mau y Ricky, with Kelly returning to tape the episode last week.
Kelly delivered a monologue to start off the episode, featuring screens that showed several visuals from shows over the past five and a half years.
"Our show premiered on September 9, 2019 with the help of some great friends," she said. "Over the next five and a half years we have made 999 episodes, I cannot believe today marks the 1000th, it's crazy!"
"We've created a community and supported each other through a lot of ups and downs," she added, quipping: "A lot of ups and downs personally as well."
© Getty ImagesShe looked back on some of the show's biggest highlights, including hosting through the Covid-19 pandemic, from her backyard at her ranch in Montana, sending the studio audience to both London and Australia, as well as hosting with both an eye-patch as well as a broken foot.
"I also can't cook," she said alongside an old visual, joking: "I told them in the beginning. Still can't cook." This bit comes back later, when she shouts out her two kids Remington "Remy" and River and jokingly apologizes to them for still not being a good cook, ending with "thank you, Postmates!"
"We have laughed together, cried together with some beautiful stories, sang together, danced together, celebrated and competed together. I've lost alone…a lot," Kelly added. "And along the way, we've found comfort with each other." She shouted out her crew and her band for their long and hard work, then cutting to a Kellyoke cover of Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing."
© InstagramThe episode ended with a segment created by the producers for Kelly which featured all the appearances by her two kids, from their cute interactions with Jason Momoa and Justin Timberlake, to Remy's performance of "My Way" greeted by a bear hug from his older sister.
Kelly did her best to hold back her tears, joking about maintaining her makeup's "glow" and sweetly added: "River and Remy, I love you so much! I'm so proud of you both. They're just fearless and very bold, just like me as an adult."
© Getty ImagesThe show's executive producer and showrunner Alex Duda spoke with Deadline about the milestone, and reflected specifically on how moving to New York in its fifth season changed things up.
"Honestly, the move has been great for the show," she noted. "We launched into a pandemic, so almost the entire time we were in L.A., we either had a small audience or we had an audience of holograms."
© Getty Images"So we moved to New York and it was a big undertaking, but we were able to retain most of the staff, which is great because we have this shorthand together," Alex added. "Now we're right across the hall from the Tonight Show. They're such good neighbors. We're downstairs from Seth Meyers and SNL, and it's cool being in this historic building," concluding with: "And Kelly's loved it."
