The Kelly Clarkson Show Wins Five Daytime Emmys, Including Best Talk Series, as Sherri Shepherd Takes Host

“The Kelly Clarkson Show” ended its run on television in August, and it still finished on top at the 53rd Daytime Emmys. The NBCUniversal-syndicated talk show won five awards at the ceremony on Friday, Oct. 30, including Outstanding Daytime Talk Series. That was more than any other program, according to Variety.

The night also brought a surprise. Kelly Clarkson lost Outstanding Daytime Talk Series Host to Sherri Shepherd of “Sherri,” a show that has also been canceled. Gold Derby called it an upset.

What did The Kelly Clarkson Show win at the 2026 Daytime Emmys?

Variety and Billboard both report five wins for the show:

• Outstanding Daytime Talk Series
• Outstanding Directing for a Daytime Studio Non-Fiction Series
• Outstanding Sound Mixing and Sound Editing for a Live Daytime Program
• Outstanding Art Direction/Set Decoration/Scenic Design for a Daytime Program
• Outstanding Hairstyling and Makeup for a Daytime Program, a tie with CBS soap “Beyond the Gates”

The show beat “3rd Hour of Today,” “The Drew Barrymore Show,” “Live with Kelly and Mark,” “Today with Jenna & Friends” and “The View” for the top talk prize.

It was also nominated in several categories it did not win, according to Variety’s winners list. Those included music direction (won by “Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade”), studio editing, lighting direction, costume design and main title design.

Who won Best Talk Show Host?

Sherri Shepherd won Outstanding Daytime Talk Series Host for “Sherri.” She beat Clarkson, Tamron Hall, Jennifer Hudson and the panel of “The View.”

Gold Derby, which tracks awards predictions, said Clarkson went in as the heavy favorite in the host category, with Shepherd given only a slim chance in its forecasts. Neither Clarkson nor Shepherd attended the ceremony at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, Gold Derby reported.

Variety called the night “a bittersweet moment” for both “The Kelly Clarkson Show” and “Sherri,” since both talk shows have been canceled.

How many Daytime Emmys has Kelly Clarkson won?

The latest win gives Clarkson nine Daytime Emmys in seven years, Billboard reports: five in the talk series category and four for talk series host. Gold Derby puts it the same way. She had eight trophies going in (four for producing and four for hosting) and added a fifth producing Emmy on Friday.

Billboard also notes that Clarkson won in at least one of those two categories in six of the show’s seven seasons. For comparison, she has three Grammys from a recording career of more than 20 years.

Why the show is still winning after going off the air

“The Kelly Clarkson Show” aired its final episode on Aug. 31 after seven seasons. This year’s awards covered episodes that aired in 2025. Variety reports that the 53rd Daytime Emmys used an eligibility window of Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2025.

That means the show still has one more chance. The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences uses calendar-year eligibility, so the episodes that aired in 2026 can compete at the 2027 Daytime Emmys, according to Billboard and Gold Derby. Billboard added a caveat: it is an open question whether a show that is no longer on the air can draw enough voter support to be nominated.

In her final episode, Clarkson told viewers, “After seven amazing seasons, it’s our final episode,” Gold Derby reported. She closed with a fan-requested cover of “Golden” from “KPop Demon Hunters.”

Did “Birdgate” affect the Emmys?

Clarkson was recently in the headlines over an incident at a curiosity shop in Brooklyn, where she said she was treated poorly. Billboard says the story, nicknamed “Birdgate,” had no effect on the results. The Daytime Emmys hold a single round of voting that decides both nominations and winners, and that round closed on June 10, about four months before the incident.

Other big winners of the night

• “General Hospital” won Outstanding Daytime Drama Series for the sixth year in a row and four awards overall, Variety reports.
• “Beyond the Gates” also won four in its first year of eligibility, including lead actress for Tamara Tunie.
• “The Young and the Restless” and “A Different Breed” each won three.
• Star Jones won her first Daytime Emmy, sharing daily personality honors with Corey Jovan for “Divorce Court.”
• Genie Francis of “General Hospital” received the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The ceremony was not broadcast on network TV this year. It streamed on YouTube, according to Variety and Billboard.

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