Kelly Clarkson on facing criticism for her 'American Idol' roots

Kelly Clarkson revealed that she faced a lonely road to success after her victory on the show. 

On the latest episode of Kylie Kelce's Not Gonna Lie podcast, Clarkson shared that some of her peers in the music industry initially judged her for getting her start on Idol.

"I had no one," the first-ever winner of American Idol began. "I was the first winner. It was hard." She continued, "People were really mean... People that were really mean have been coaches. You know what I’m saying? Like, hated talent shows, and they ended up being on The Voice."

Clarkson won season one of American Idol in 2002, a victory that propelled her to a successful career in music marked by three Billboard Hot 100-topping hits and three No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 so far.

The three-time Grammy winner explained that 20 years ago, the music industry had mixed feelings about talent shows like Idol. "People were really cruel at first," she said. 

"They didn’t like it. It took the industry kind of by storm, the talent shows. It was a very unlikable thing in the industry concerning the populous. Now there’s so many."

However, Clarkson's experience on Idol gave her an advantage when she became a coach on The Voice. She was able to empathize with the contestants, having gone through the same process herself. 

Fellow coach Jennifer Hudson, who competed on Idol in 2004, shared a similar experience.

"People like us who have been there in that audition process, and just being so judged instantaneously, on maybe not your best performance but you know you can do better … it’s a grueling thing," Clarkson said. 

"And it’s unforgiving in a lot of ways, and a lot of pressure for these artists that I don’t think a lot of artists that sell tons of records would be able to handle. It’s a different thing."