Kelly Clarkson and Simon Cowell Fail Miserably at Imitating Each Other’s Accents

Kelly Clarkson and Simon Cowell may have plenty of talent, but there is at least one things they fail miserably at. After first meeting on Season 1 of American Idol back in 2002 and remaining close over the years, the two staged a reunion on Clarkson’s The Kelly Clarkson Show on Wednesday, and they served up plenty of laughs when they attempted to imitate each other’s accents.

The hilarious moment came as the duo discussed the last season of America’s Got Talent. After Cowell suffered a back injury that required surgery, effectively pushing him out of his AGT judge’s chair, Clarkson stepped in to fill his place for the remainder of the season. While Cowell said Clarkson did a spectacular job in his shoes, joking, “I was watching in bed that night, and as I was watching I was thinking, ‘You’re actually doing too well,’” he wasn’t quite as impressed with her British accent. Prior to officially filling in for Cowell, Clarkson shared a video to social media showing herself delivering some of Cowell’s frequently used lines in his accent, though the AGT judge admitted with a laugh that “that was dreadful.”

Unfortunately for Cowell, he doesn’t have much room to talk. After offering up his humorous critiques of Clarkson’s best attempt at a British accent, Cowell said, “let me try to do one in an American accent.” After he requested that Clarkson “give me something American to say,” the talk show host challenged the former Idol judge to “try and do Texan.” Cowell eagerly accepted and went on to deliver his best attempt at a Texan accent, stating, “How y’all doing? I think I want a barbecue,” though the accent sounded very far off from accurate. Clarkson took the opportunity to poke a little fun, telling him, “Nope! Where are you from, the Bayou?” as she broke out into laughter. She added, “yours is about as good as my accent!”

The duo’s reunion came amid an exciting time for Clarkson. After becoming America’s first American Idol in 2002 and officially bringing her talk show to the air in 2019, it was confirmed Wednesday that her talk show will take over the slot currently held by The Ellen DeGeneres Show. DeGeneres announced earlier in May that her namesake talk show will end after Season 19. Clarkson’s show is expected to fill that vacant timeslot by fall 2022, NBC announced.