Why Did Kelly Clarkson Leave ‘The Voice’?

Kelly Clarkson served as a coach on NBC's The Voice from season 14 through season 21 before taking a brief break and returning for Season 23. More recently, she left the singing competition show for good. She told USA Today that the reason why she left is because she doesn't want to "fake it." The 41-year-old singer and talk show host has since relocated her family and The Kelly Clarkson Show to New York.

She admits to the publication this week of her decision to move, "I’ll be real honest: I thought I was making a horrible decision. I knew I needed a fresh start and couldn’t be in LA. I really wanted to be in Montana, but you can’t really do a show from there quite yet. So I was like, ‘The only other option would probably be New York.'" Luckily for her, she and her kids, River Rose and Remington "Remy" Alexander "genuinely love" living in the Big Apple.

Elsewhere in the interview, Clarkson opened up about her decision to step away from her coaching role on The Voice. "Full disclosure, I put on a smile a lot of those times because I was struggling a lot in my personal life," Clarkson said of the past four years. "I've learned a lot about what I'm capable of handling and also what you should not handle. That was me saying 'bye' to The Voice and having this big move." Clarkson worked alongside fellow coaches Blake Shelton, John Legend, Nick Jonas, Gwen Stefani, and Ariana Grande. Though she loved "that family," she couldn't ignore the fact that she was struggling. At the time, the "Stronger" singer said, "I can't smile anymore. I don't feel like smiling."

She's now focusing on season five of her talk show, which is being filmed in New York. Now, Clarkson finds herself "in such a great place, not only with my kids but with me personally and with the show. I feel like a weight has lifted. That move was very needed. I think the thing I'm most excited about with season 5, on a selfish level, is just showing up to work smiling and actually meaning it. That's a beautiful gift that you don't realize until you're out of it."

Kelly Clarkson keeps cranking out amazing covers in her Kellyoke series. The singer and talk show host never fails to entertain with her genre-spanning covers. From Destiny's Child to Lenny Kravitz to Chris Stapleton, you don't know what song she will put her own spin on next.

Clarkson previously released an album of six of her covers from 2022 after "singing over 500" on The Kelly Clarkson Show, which she said was "near-impossible" to choose. The Kellyoke album was released in June of 2022 and features the following songs:

Announcing her upcoming 10th studio album, Chemistry, the singer said she didn’t want “everybody” to think that her emotions could just be simplified as angry or sad. She explained in a video, “This album is definitely the arc of an entire relationship, and a whole relationship shouldn’t be just brought down to one thing. So there’s the good, the bad, the ugly thing kinda going on in it.”

In addition to new music, Clarkson will also be heading to Las Vegas, singing fan favorites and new songs, for a 10-show residency starting July 28.

See our favorite Kellyoke performances of 2023 so far below:

Kelly playfully made Taylor's version her own, as she notes in the caption.

Kelly's rendition of "Do I Wanna Know?" is so powerful and we might like it even better than the original!

Kelly kicked off Black History Month with this powerhouse cover of Destiny Child's 2001 hit song.

Clarkson shows the softness of her voice in this beautiful ballad by emerging artist, Joy Oladokun.

Though it is impossible to out-sing Cher, Clarkson's rendition of 1998's "Strong Enough" is fun and high energy.

Clarkson gives CeCe Peniston a run for her money in this groovy dance cover.

Clarkson blew us away with her version of rock band Spacehog's 1994 song.

Kelly lets us know it ain't over till it's over in this Lenny Kravitz cover of "It Ain’t Over ’til It’s Over."

The talk show host covered one of our favorite Janet Jackson songs: "When I Think of You."

Starting off the song slow, Kelly ups the energy in this classic dance pop song, "Gotta Get Thru This."

Kelly kicked off Spring with another Florence + the Machine cover, belting out "Free."

We are loving this soulful cover of Jazmine Sullivan's Grammy-award-winning song.

Kelly and Shazam!'s Zachary Levi harmonized beautifully in this cover of 'Something Stupid' by Nancy and Frank Sinatra.

We love how effortless and natural Kelly sounds in her cover of Mark Morrison's "Return of the Mack."

Clarkson breathes new life into Death Cab for Cutie's "You Are a Tourist."

Kelly has the vocal power to make this Mazzy Star cover both dreamy and calming, yet powerful and commanding.

Kelly gave the Pixies a run for their money when she covered "Where Is My Mind?" in February.

Clarkson evoked her inner Stapleton when she covered this smooth cover of "Tennessee Whiskey."

Adele who? Clarkson blew her fellow powerhouse singer away in her rendition of this Adele classic.

These two powerhouse singers might be the most iconic pairing of all time! Kelly harmonizes beautifully with P!nk, allowing her to take the spotlight.

Her performance of Chris De Burgh's signature song from 1986 is simply beautiful.