Kelly Clarkson Says ‘Pre-Diabetic’ Diagnosis Prompted Her to Lose Weight: ‘I Wasn’t Shocked’

Kelly Clarkson has revealed that her recent weight loss is a result of being diagnosed with pre-diabetes a few years ago.

During Monday’s episode The Kelly Clarkson Show, The 41-year-old presenter opened up about her health after Kevin James told her she looked great as he joined her daytime talk show as a guest.

“Well, they told me I was pre-diabetic,” she said with a laugh. “That’s literally what happened… and well, I wasn’t shocked. I was a little overweight.”

“But I wasn’t shocked by it. They said, ‘You are pre-diabetic. You are on the very border.’ And I said: ‘But I haven’t arrived yet,'” she joked. “And then I waited two years and then I was like OK, I’m going to do something about it.”

Kelly Clarkson explains how she ‘dropped the pounds’: ‘I listened to my doctor’ (Exclusive)

Earlier this month, Clarkson opened up to PEOPLE about her recent weight loss, crediting getting active with her kids — daughter River Rose , 9, and son Remington Alexander , 7 — for helping her get in shape.

“We’re going to walk the dogs in the park a few times. We will go for ice cream because my daughter will tire me out. We’re going to make slime and we’re going to the museum,” the American Idol said the winner. “Walking through the city is a real workout. And I’m really into infrared saunas right now. And I just caught a cold because everyone wore me out.”

As for her diet, “I eat a healthy mix. I lost weight because I listened to my doctor – I hadn’t for several years. And 90 percent of the time I’m really good at it because my protein diet is good for me anyway. I’m a Texas girl, so I love meat — sorry, vegetarians of the world!”

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Kelly Clarkson in New York in November 2023.

Cindy Ord/Getty

Back in November 2023, Clarkson admitted on her show that she “went through a lot of phases” of being heavier than she wanted to be.

“I like losing weight, but here’s the thing,” she said as the audience applauded. “Jeans are so heavy when you have a bum and a smaller waist.”

The singer – who has shed pounds over the years – has been transparent about her weight loss journey throughout her career.

“Even on American Idol I was really skinny, but I was bigger than the other girls on the show, so people would say all kinds of things to me,” she told PEOPLE in November 2017. “But luckily, I’m super confident, so I’ve never had a problem shutting people down and saying: ‘Yeah, you know, that’s what rocks me. It is OK.’ ”

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