Kelly Clarkson Reveals Celebrities Were ‘Mean’ And ‘Rude’ To Her During Her American Idol Days

Kelly Clarkson may be one of the most respected names in the music industry today now, but that clearly wasn’t always the case.

During an interview with Jennifer Love Hewitt on her daily talk show, Clarkson opened up about cruel others in the spotlight were to her while she was just a contestant on “American Idol” in 2002. She also took a moment to personally thank the “9-1-1” actress for her words of support during a chance encounter at the time.

“You probably don’t remember this, but it stuck with me so long, almost 20 years now,” Clarkson told her guest. “It was at some kind of MTV Awards, VMAs or something, I don’t know what it was but you ran up to me. It was right in the final three of ‘Idol,’ we were so slammed and everything was happening in a whirlwind and people were really mean to us because we’re from a talent show and it was the first season.”

“Everyone was so rude to us, like on the carpet, at the show. It was so bad, it was a horrible experience,” said Kelly.

“[But] you came up to me, ran up to me out of nowhere and were like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m really rooting for you,'” Clarkson recalled, before revealing the advice Hewitt gave that she really took to heart.

“You told me, ‘Please, keep the ones you love so close. It’ll end up being a few people in your life, unfortunately, but this business can be really hard. And just remember to keep those people that really love you.'”

“You just gave me this advice that was really kind in such an unkind time for me, personally, so thank you so much,” she told Hewitt. “It meant the world to me, you were so nice and I’ve been looking forward to interviewing you.”

Clarkson, of course, wound up winning that very first season of “Idol” and has become one of the show’s most successful stars.