Kelly Clarkson Forgets Clay Aiken Didn’t Win His Season of ‘American Idol’ in Awkward Moment

Clay Aiken must have been so impressive to Kelly Clarkson that she mistakenly thought he won his season of American Idol. Clarkson, who won over Justin Guarini during the show’s inaugural season in 2002, made the mistake during Aiken’s appearance on her popular daytime talk show. Aiken was bested by R&B and gospel singer, Ruben Studdard in the second season of the show. The moment came when they reflected on touring with one another in the early days of Clarkson’s career as Aiken also launched a solo career despite his loss.

“So we spent a lot of time … we toured,” Clarkson noted, referring to the singers’ 2004 co-headlining Independent Tour that followed the first two seasons of American Idol. “I won the season before you, but we toured after you won,” she continued, which shocked Aiken.

“After I came in second,” he corrected the singer. “You what?” Clarkson asked. She immediately realized her mishap and apologized to Studdard. “So sorry, Ruben. I totally remember that,” she said as the audience laughed.

“Look, I’m 42, bro. OK, like, I forgot,” Clarkson joked, with Aiken adding in, “It’s been 20 years. We are both getting older.” Clarkson continued, “Yes, and I kind of feel like for some reason in my brain movie, y’all are on different shows.” Aiken let her know that Studdard will be reaching out about the mistake. “He will be calling me,” Aiken joked, adding, “without question.”

Aiden left music for a career in politics, eventually running for a seat in Congress. In a 2022 interview with Variety, he discussed his decision to run for the House of Representatives in North Carolina’s 6th congressional district as a Democrat. It marked his second time running. The first was in 2014, when he lost a run for the 2nd congressional district in North Carolina in what was considered to be a safe Republican seat.