Photo Credit: Kelly Clarkson by Staff Sgt. Carlin Leslie (Public Domain)
Kelly Clarkson admits she never received her $1 million American Idol prize money—at least not in the way she expected.
Talk show host and pop singer Kelly Clarkson dropped a surprising truth on fans during a recent interview with Traitors and Love Island star Rob Rausch on the March 10 episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show. And if you haven’t finished the most recent season of Traitors, be prepared for spoilers ahead.
During the interview, Rausch said he was still waiting to receive his $220,800 in Traitors prize money, to which Clarkson said she could relate—because while she had assumed back in 2002 when she won American Idol that she would be taking home $1 million, that wasn’t what actually happened.
“They were like, ‘Oh, you win a million dollars or whatever,’ […] No, you didn’t. They lied. You did not, no,” said Clarkson. “It was like, ‘a million dollars’ worth of investment in you.’”
She also said she was expecting a car, which she also didn’t get, and which she desperately needed because she said hers was damaged at the time and she couldn’t afford to fix it. To add insult to injury, she said Clay Aiken, a fan-favorite contestant on the next season of Idol, did in fact get a car.
“I remember Clay telling me that the second season. He was like, ‘Yeah, they gave my mom one [too].’ I was like, ‘I’m gonna actually kick your ass right now,’” Clarkson admitted.
Whether the Traitors money actually comes to fruition or not, Clarkson encouraged Rausch to leverage his newfound fame into career opportunities, like she did. She remarked on his acting skills after Rausch successfully hoodwinked his fellow cast members on Traitors, adding, “Look, you are a really good actor! I think you’d be great at it.”
While Clarkson might not have taken home a stack of cash like she had expected, she definitely managed to turn her newfound fame from American Idol back in 2002 into a lifelong career. That includes her many chart-topping hits, her stint judging The Voice, her talk show which bears her name, and even authoring some children’s books.
