Kelly Clarkson and Demi Lovato understand the importance of keeping it real for their fans. The 38-year-old singer and talk show host features the 27-year-old “Anyone” singer on Thursday’s The Kelly Clarkson Show where she praised her for her outspoken vulnerability.
“I love how open you are about mental health because I have similar issues, and I’ve suffered from depression,” Clarkson tells Lovato. “I think a lot of people, especially in the creative world or just from childhood you’ve been trained to just keep going and you can handle it. Especially as a woman it’s like, ‘Don’t let them see you sweat.’ I just love that you’re open about that because not everybody’s as vulnerable being like that. And I think it’s helpful for your fans.”
Similarly, Lovato opens up about how Clarkson’s transparency helped her at the start of her career.
“You were like the first idol that I ever had. I wouldn’t be the artist or even the person that I am with being so outspoken and vulnerable and fearless if I hadn’t had you to look up to, so I thank you for that,” Lovato tells the American Idol alum. “I looked at you as my idol growing up. You are fearless and courageous and real as f**k, you know? I love that about you. When I was younger I always thought to myself, ‘If I make it, I want to be like her because she’s real and she’s genuine.'”
Clarkson thanks Lovato for the compliment, but adds that her struggles aren’t always as easy as they might seem to fans.
“It takes work. I think everybody looks at us, like even when you overcome something, they’re like, ‘OK, she’s already overcome that.’ I’m like, ‘No, no, no that’s a daily effort in trying to be positive,'” she says. “That’s not a given, like you’re just over it and you went to some magic therapy session and it’s over. I think that’s a daily thing you work at and a daily thing that I work out.”
Earlier this month, Clarkson filed for divorce from her husband, Brandon Blackstock, after more than six years of marriage. The pair share daughter River, 5, and son Remi, 4.
Clarkson has also recently opened up about her “abandonment issues” surrounding her childhood.
“I don’t think you get rid of that. I have people in my life that suffer from addiction to certain things and that doesn’t go away. It’s always there,” she told the British web series, Glamour Unfiltered. “It’s just navigating your life around that existence in your life. You don’t ever one day wake up and are like, ‘OK, I’m totally cool with the fact that I have major abandonment issues because horrible things happened.’ That’s why I write songs about it and you connect with all these people that you don’t know.”
Lovato has also been very open about her personal struggles. After suffering from an overdose in 2018, the former child star shared her mental health journey with her fans through her music and in interviews.
