NBC has announced that Kelly Clarkson will take the daytime slot vacated by the talkshow anchor Ellen DeGeneres, once her eponymous show ends in 2022.
The network announced on Wednesday that the 39-year-old pop singer – the original American Idol, judge on the popular competition show The Voice and host of her own talkshow owned and produced by NBC’s syndication arm – will take over DeGeneres’s slot on NBC-owned and affiliated stations in fall next year.
The Kelly Clarkson Show, now in its second season, currently airs on over 200 stations across the country.
“Kelly and our entire production team put their heart, intent and incredible passion into making a show that resonates with people of all ages, cultures and backgrounds,” Tracie Wilson, executive vice-president with NBCUniversal Syndication Studios, told the Hollywood Reporter. “We’re working on some big plans for season three and are looking forward to becoming the premier show in daytime for years to come.”
DeGeneres, 63, launched a scramble for a replacement to daytime’s most popular slot earlier this month when she announced her show, which has aired over 3,000 episodes and foregrounded the proliferation of zany celebrity games in variety television, would end after its 19th season next year.
The news came after a tumultuous year for the groundbreaking LGBTQ comic, after long-simmering rumors of her rudeness culminated in a BuzzFeed News investigation into toxicity at the Ellen set. The report, based on interviews with 36 former employees, did not allege toxic behavior by DeGeneres specifically, but detailed patterns of sexual harassment, racial insensitivity and bullying behind the scenes in stark contrast to the host’s “be kind” motto.
Three executive producers were fired following the report, and DeGeneres offered an on-air apology during show’s 18th season premiere in September.
“I learned that things happened here that should never have happened,” she said. “I know that I’m in a position of privilege and power, and I realize that with that comes responsibility, and I take responsibility for what happens at my show.”
DeGeneres has denied that the reports precipitated her decision to end her talkshow. “If it was why I was quitting, I would have not come back this year,” she told the Today host Savannah Guthrie earlier this month. “I really did think about not coming back because … it was devastating,” she said of the report. “I am a kind person. I am a person who likes to make people happy.”
According to the Hollywood Reporter, not all stations currently airing Ellen will adopt NBC’s Kelly Clarkson shift, as some will consider turning to lower-cost news programs rather than a talkshow replacement.
