Currently in production on the show’s fourth season, producers of “The Kelly Clarkson Show” are mulling a move to the New York Metro Tri-State area beginning with season five, reports Variety.
According to the outlet, sources say Clarkson has asked NBCUniversal, the show’s producer and distributor, to explore moving her daytime talk show out of Los Angeles where it tapes on the Universal Studios Hollywood lot. The news also aligns with previous comments made by the “American Idol” alum in a Variety cover story where she talked about returning to touring and releasing a new album.
“It’s nothing against L.A. It’s just hard for me to be in a place that has one season. I love rain, and I love storms. I’m just from a different place,” said Clarkson to Variety last year. “It’s important to love your life – I love work and I love everybody I work with and I love my friends, but geographically speaking, that wouldn’t be my first choice.”
Other reasons cited for the move include the ability to “elevate and evolve” the show, better tax incentives should the show move to a new location, and being closer to family, notes Variety.
A spokesperson for the studio confirmed to the publication that there are active negotiations taking place that would see the show moving to the east coast, “but nothing is finalized.”
Photo by Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal
Since the beginning of season three, premiere weeks for “The Kelly Clarkson Show” have been taped in New York City’s famed Jazz at Lincoln Center located in Manhattan. A more long-term location for the show has yet to be identified, specifically whether the show will tape directly in the Big Apple or somewhere else within the Tri-State area.
Already renewed through the 2024-2025 television season (the show’s sixth), producers are said to be hoping to keep as many of the show’s production staff and crew on board to maintain consistency, particularly those who have been with the show since its launch in 2019.
Ranked third season to date among daytime syndicated talk shows, behind only perennial leaders “Live with Kelly and Ryan” and “Dr. Phil,” “The Kelly Clarkson Show” is averaging 1.37 million daily viewers. Overall, the show has won 13 Daytime Emmy Awards.
With the upcoming departure of original coach Blake Shelton on the horizon at “The Voice,” NBC is said to be looking into scheduling scenarios that could keep Clarkson in rotation as a coach on the hit music series should she choose to continue in the role beyond her return for this spring’s season 23 premiere. This season marks her ninth go in the spinning red chair.