Kelly Clarkson said she never received the $1 million prize promised to her after winning American Idol.
Clarkson, 43, the first winner of the singing competition in 2002, revealed that she never got her earnings in a conversation with Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe and Traitors winner Rob Rausch on her self-titled daytime talk show. Rausch said he also has yet to receive his $220,800 prize from the reality show, which airs on Peacock.
“I relate to this so hard core because whenever I won, you probably weren’t alive when I was on American Idol, but I literally was on the show, and they were like, ‘Oh, you win a million dollars or whatever.’ No, you didn’t. They lied,” Clarkson exclaimed in the episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show.
American Idol aired on Fox when Clarkson won. It remained on the network for 15 years, until 2016. A revival of the series began airing on ABC in 2018.
The Daily Beast has reached out to ABC for comment.
She said that the prize meant “a $1 million worth of investment in you,” a revelation that Radcliffe was shocked at. Clarkson also called out Idol for gifting cars to the show’s Season 2 runner-up, Clay Aiken, and his mother. She did not receive a car, despite the show telling her she would. “And then they said you get a car, and I needed it ‘cause my car was bashed in, and I couldn’t afford the deductible,” she said. “No! I did not get a car!”
“I was like, what the f---! I remember Clay telling me about the second season. He’s like, yeah, they gave my mom one. I was like, I’m gonna actually kick your a-- right now,” she said.
Clarkson told Rausch of expecting his winnings, “That’s why I’m saying, you might not see it. You might not see it. But, you know, I hope you got enough TV time.”
The TV host won American Idol at 20, skyrocketed to fame, and went on to win three Grammy Awards for her music. She has hosted her show since 2019, but its seventh season, which premiered in September 2025, will be the last.
Winning the show changed her life, Clarkson said last year. “I will be forever grateful for all of you that have supported me for so many years. It is a gift to find your purpose and passion, and to be able to make a living doing it is the cherry on top,” she wrote in a tribute to fans on Facebook. “Thank you, always.”
