‘American Idol’: Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson ‘Never Connected,’ Source Says
American Idol Season 23 is in full swing. Fans are excited to see Carrie Underwood judge alongside Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie. In years past, fans suspected that Underwood and the first American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson, had a feud. Here’s what a recent source said about how Underwood and Clarkson “never connected.”
‘American Idol’ judge Carrie Underwood and season 1 winner Kelly Clarkson ‘don’t really have much in common,’ a source says
Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson are both successful American Idol winners. Underwood won season 4 and has a fantastic career as a country artist. In 2025, she joined the judges’ table for the first time alongside Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan. As for Clarkson, she hosts The Kelly Clarkson Show, where she sings for her audience and speaks to guests.
Rumors of a feud between Underwood and Clarkson have persisted for years. In the past, the singers denied taking issue with each other. Clarkson addressed the rumors on Watch What Happens Live in 2023.
“People always pit us together, and we don’t even know each other well enough to be pitted against,” Clarkson said. “Like, literally, we’ve run into each other a handful of times, and there’s no beef between us. There’s nothing between us. We don’t know each other. We’ve literally run into each other a few times.”
Feud rumors persisted in 2025 following Underwood’s controversial performance at the second inauguration of Donald Trump. “For years, fans have speculated that she and Kelly Clarkson don’t get along,” an insider told In Touch Weekly. Fans compared Underwood’s performance to Clarkson’s 2013 performance at Barack Obama’s inauguration.
So, is there any truth to the beef rumors? “Aside from the obvious — they’re both moms and singers — they don’t really have much in common,” the source continued. “They’ve just never really connected as friends.”
Another insider says there’s no ‘truth’ of a feud between the winners
While fans continue to suspect bad blood between Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, another insider said the American Idol winners have a lot of love for each other.
“This whole thing about Kelly being jealous of Carrie or competitive with her couldn’t be further from the truth,” the source told Life & Style ahead of Underwood’s judging debut. “[Clarkson is] a huge fan and loves that she’s come full circle and will be an Idol judge; Kelly thinks that’s just so cool.”
The source added that Clarkson and Underwood don’t have a close relationship. However, “they have each other’s contacts, and Kelly has reached out to let her know that she’s going to be watching and rooting her on.”
‘American Idol’ hopes to ‘stay away’ from politics, another source says
Carrie Underwood’s inauguration performance caused an uproar among fans. While some supported her choice to perform, others condemned it. An insider told The U.S. Sun that American Idol hoped to stay out of the political conversation, which is proving difficult with Underwood as a judge in season 23.
“The show just wants to stay away from anything political. So this turning into such a big, worldwide topic of conversation is not what [the producers] wanted heading into the start of the season,” a source explained. “The situation has become too big and out of anyone’s control now, which is a stressful position to be in while trying to promote a family-friendly, politically neutral show.”
The source added that Underwood’s performance has proved to be “worst-case scenario” due to “the amount of attention it’s gotten and Idol being brought into the political conversation.”
American Idol Season 23 airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
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