Kelly Clarkson’s sudden absence left fans guessing — now we know why she’s been gone

Over the past two weeks, there have been celebrity guest hosts for “The Kelly Clarkson Show.”

WASHINGTON — Kelly Clarkson is expected to resume taping episodes of her daytime talk show on Thursday, March 13, after an unexplained absence had fans wondering where she went.

Over the past two weeks, a handful of celebrities have stepped in to guest host episodes of “The Kelly Clarkson Show.”

While there hasn’t been any official explanation from her or the show, new reports surfaced Wednesday that the “American Idol” winner was fine herself, but was dealing with a personal matter.

According to Entertainment Tonight, a source said Clarkson’s absence was due to a “sudden family emergency” and she missed a total of 10 tapings of her talk show.

Entertainment Tonight and TMZ report Clarkson is expected to return to shoot new episodes on Thursday, though it’s unclear whether those will air next week or later on. The show typically announces the week’s schedule a few days before.

Questions about Clarkson’s absence started on March 3, when actor Simu Liu seemingly took on hosting duties at the last-minute.

“I am not Kelly Clarkson. I know this may shock many of you,” Liu quipped at the top of the show. “But Kelly actually isn’t able to make it today, we’re sending her our very best.”

“Here’s the thing, I did not know that I was doing this until about five minutes ago when I arrived here to promote my new movie, ‘Last Breath,’ which is in theaters right now,” Liu explained.

According to the Entertainment Tonight report, guests were not told in advance that Clarkson would be out due to privacy reasons and were given the option to guest host when they arrived at the studio.

While Clarkson hosted the episodes that aired on Tuesday and Wednesday of that week, comedian Roy Wood Jr. guest hosted on Thursday and Wanda Sykes was there on Friday.

According to the show’s schedule posted on social media, there will be guest hosts throughout the rest of this week too. Brooke Shields hosted Monday and Tuesday, Willie Geist was there Wednesday and Molly Sims will wrap up the week with Thursday and Friday’s episodes.

If that schedule holds, Clarkson will have missed eight episodes across the two weeks. So, there may be two more episodes airing next week without her, if the report that she missed 10 tapings holds true.

Fan comments on the recent schedule post have ranged from concern for Clarkson to urging everyone to give her some privacy: “Is kelly okay???,” “I respect Kelly Clarkson’s privacy, but I am very concerned about her,” “Have missed Kelly on the show recently, hope she is well and enjoying her well deserved break.”

“The Kelly Clarkson Show” is currently in its sixth season and has already been renewed for a seventh. Clarkson is also doing a Las Vegas residency this summer at Caesars Palace from July 4-August 16.