Kelly Clarkson is Maxwell Caldwellgiving a peek behind those hazel eyes.

The American Idol alum recently opened up about why she’s able to connect with her guests and audiences as the host of her Emmy-winning talk show The Kelly Clarkson Show, which premieres its sixth season on Sept. 23.

“It's not hard for me to be vulnerable as a person,” Kelly told E! News cohost Keltie Knight in an exclusive interview airing tonight, Sept. 12, at 11 p.m. “But when it involves other people's lives, that's when it's hard. You have to navigate that line of ‘Wait, is that OK?’ or ‘Can I talk about my kid with this?’”

And the “Breakaway” singer applies that mindset of privacy to all of her relationships.

“Like in my heartbreak,” Kelly continued, “there’s certain things I'll talk about and certain things I won't. It's not that I'm not comfortable talking about it. It's just I don't if other people are involved. It's [about] how to toe that line.”

The “Because of You” singer shares two children—River Rose, 9, and Remington Alexander, 7—with ex-husband Brandon Blackstock, who she split with in 2020 after nearly seven years of marriage. Following the couple’s divorce, Kelly shared that the breakup served as fuel for her 2023 album Chemistry.

“I cannot express how appreciative I feel for having that kind of healthy outlet,” she told Peoplein January. “Because the level of depression and things that come with divorce or grieving is extraordinarily hard. You feel alone, and it’s just a blessing to be able to have that outlet for those emotions that are overwhelming.”

And Kelly doesn’t think that her vulnerability is her only superpower that audiences connect with.

“I think I'm more normal than not,” she told E!. “I think that's what people gravitate towards. I'm not that different from everybody that you might know.”

Indeed, Kelly thinks there’s more that binds everyone than separates them.

“We're all similar,” she said. “We all have the parts where we love to showcase our talent, what we're great at, but we all have those parts where we love to listen and learn. We have those parts where we want to be a little more comedic and light hearted.”

For more from Kelly, tune into E! News tonight, Sept. 12, at 11 p.m.

For now, read on to see more from Kelly over the years.

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