Kelly Clarkson admitted she was a bit jealous of Niall Horan’s group experience on reality TV, revealing that she herself was “lonely” on “American Idol” despite winning her season.
“You came up with a group, which I think is cool,” Clarkson said to Horan, discussing his time with One Direction on the reality competition series “X Factor.” “I was very lonely off the top — I was 19, a little older when I started — but I was very lonely, and I think that must have been cool that you have buddies to lean on.”
When asked if he still kept in touch with his former bandmates, Horan said they talk “constantly” and were “so lucky” to have each other throughout the process, though they came in third at the end of the competition.
“You would see all the other artists melting all the time over everything, and we were just 16, 17, 18, 19,” Horan said. “It was so fun, I’d do it again, that’s why I’m doing The Voice.”
Both “The Voice” coaches bonded over their “full circle” moments on the reality singing competition.
“I love doing ‘The Voice’ for that reason, you get to say, ‘I’ve been in your [shoes],’” Clarkson said. “I don’t like that that’s your pitch, though, because that’s my pitch.”
Horan laughed: “She uses the ‘I came from a show like this,’ and I was like, ‘Wait until you see what I’ve got.’”
Clarkson also admitted that she had no idea One Direction didn’t win the competition.
“I thought One Direction won, because you did in life,” Clarkson said. “I didn’t watch [‘X Factor’], I just knew that that’s where you came from, but congratulations, you killed it.”
Horan and his other One Direction bandmates have all gone on to solo careers since splitting in 2016, with the most famous being recent Album of the Year Grammy-winner Harry Styles.
Watch the full segment in the embed above.
