Kelly Clarkson Reveals She Didn't Want to Win 'American Idol'

Kelly Clarkson won Season 1 of American Idol in 2002, kicking off one of the most successful careers in Idol history. But surprisingly, the singer reveals that she actually hoped the runner-up, Justin Guarini, would be named the champion instead.

"I do remember Justin [Guarini] and I having a conversation before and I was like, 'I don't want to win, I don't want to win,' because we found out we had to do a movie," says Clarkson (quote via Taste of Country). "We just found that out Top 2, and he really wanted to do a movie and I really didn't want to do it. I was like, 'It'd be really super cool if I got second and you got first because the winner has to do the movie and the second one doesn't.' I won, so I had to do the movie."

Clarkson and Guarini both went on to star in From Justin to Kelly, a box-office flop that proved Clarkson's intuition about the film was correct. But while her career as an actress was short-lived, a fact that is fine by Clarkson since she admits she never wanted to do anything but music, she is enjoying her new role, serving as a coach on Season 14 of The Voice.

"It's a really cool thing, 15-16 years later, to do something possibly for someone that was done for me," Clarkson says. "It's a great door and it's a really cool avenue to get into the business ... No aesthetics, no favoritism, it's just your talent to turn that chair."

Clarkson also recently turned Today host Hoda Kotb children's book, I've Loved You Since Forever, into a a song.

"I made it more like a lullaby, like James Taylor, like there's kind of some Patty Griffin in it," Clarkson shares. "I hope we do it justice."

Download the song on iTunes.

Photo Credit: Facebook/Kelly Clarkson