We’re stunned Kelly Clarkson used to break into this ‘American Idol’ alum’s home — and the reason is wild
It appears that Kelly Clarkson cannot compete with fellow 'American Idol' alum Clay Aiken when it comes to organizational skills! During a June 4 episode of 'The Kelly Clarkson Show', Clarkson was joined by Norman Reedus, Ana de Armas, and Ian McShane, who came on the show to promote their new film ' From the World of John Wick: Ballerina.' At one point, the daytime talk show host raised the subject of pre-fame jobs. Reedus admitted that back in the day he worked as a cleaner and he's still "kind of anal about stuff like that." As per People magazine, Reedus told the group, "You would look at me and never think that, but like, my refrigerator, the yogurts have to be right there in order. I'm that guy. You would never know."
Reedus' confession reminded Clarkson of an incredibly tidy friend whom she met during her time on 'American Idol', and it was none other than Aiken. “Oh, I have a friend like you that I used to mess with. He looked like a serial killer with his refrigerator. It was Clay Aiken. He was on Idol, the same show I came from, and I went to his house, and I was like, ‘The hell?’ He had everything so [organized]," Clarkson recalled.
The Grammy winner further elaborated, "He had everything so and just to f*** with him, I moved everything around." In addition to this, Clarkson stated that the prank "did mess him up," but claimed, "It did look like a serial killer lived there, how his refrigerator looked!" On June 5, Aiken issued a statement to Entertainment Weekly that shed light on his obsessive organizational system. "It's true. I used to be a bit intense about the organization of my precious perishables," Aiken shared at that time.
In his statement, Aiken gushed over Clarkson and went on to say, "Thankfully, my dear friend, Kelly, helped cure me of this obsession by regularly breaking into my house while I was out of town and completely dismantling my fridge organization system!" Then, Aiken playfully remarked, "Thanks to her (less than legal) efforts, I’m happy to say I’m cured, and my fridge today looks like an episode of Hoarders. I didn’t even realize excessive kitchen organization was a gateway to serial killing, just think of how many lives Kelly may have saved!”
In December 2024, Aiken, the 'American Idol' Season 2 runner-up, stopped by 'The Kelly Clarkson Show' and candidly spoke about the fridge fiasco. “You used to break into my house, remember, and rearrange my refrigerator," Aiken told Clarkson, to which the latter responded by saying, "That’s because your refrigerator, I remember, looked like a serial killer. You had everything lined up, and I would just go in and slightly nudge.”
Elsewhere in the episode, Aiken mentioned that Clarkson took her rearranging game to a whole new level. “You were moving stuff around! My milk was in the pantry!” On the other hand, Clarkson defended her past actions and quipped, “Because it looked crazy, man!” In a 2004 interview with TRL, when Aiken was asked if he and Clarkson lean on each other mid-tour, he responded, "The tired-er I get, the grumpier I get, the more I pick on Kelly. We don't lean on each other, we pick on each other."