Kelly Clarkson and Demi Lovato had a love fest on the June 24 episode of "The Kelly Clarkson Show," praising each other for their vulnerability and honesty when it comes to their respective mental health battles.
"I love how open you are about mental health because I have similar issues, and I suffer from depression," Kelly told Demi during their online video chat. "I think a lot of people, especially in the creative world or just from childhood even, [are] kind of trained to just keep going and 'you can handle it,' especially as a woman it's like, 'Don't let them see you sweat.'"
Kelly continued, "I just love that you're open about that because not everybody's as vulnerable at being like that. And I think it's helpful for your fans, 'cause I know, in every meet and greet, you probably get people saying that — I do too — like, thank you for being open in your songs and open with everybody, 'cause I felt like this was just me, and like, knowing that somebody else is going through it makes you not feel alone and so depressed about it. So thank you for doing that," Kelly told Demi — who's long been open about her mental health and addiction issues — acknowledging that "it's really hard."
Demi then thanked Kelly — the first ever "American Idol" winner who went on to become a huge pop star outside of the TV singing competition show — for influencing her and inspiring her to always be open and honest. "You were, like, the first idol that I ever had, and I wouldn't be the artist or even the person that I am with being so outspoken and vulnerable and fearless if I hadn't had you to look up to," said Demi, who's 27. "So I thank you for that."
She continued of Kelly, who's 38, "I looked at you as my idol growing up. You are fearless and courageous and real … and I love that about you and I've always just thought to myself like, when I was younger, I always thought to myself that if I ever make it, I want to be like her because she's real and she's genuine."
Kelly then said that it's hard to always live up to that expectation. "I'm not all the time. It takes work. Like, that's the thing I think everybody looks at us like, even when you overcome something, it's like, no, no, no, that's a daily effort in trying to be positive," she explained, adding, "That's not like, a given, like you're just over it, you went to some magical therapy session and it's over."
According to Kelly, it's "a daily thing that you work at, and a daily thing that I work at." She thanked Demi for her compliments and then addressed how tough it can be to be open and vulnerable when you're famous. "It's not easy to always have a spotlight on you and arrows being aimed at you," she added, "especially when you are vulnerable and you give people more ammo for all the trolls out there."