Kelly Clarkson explains why she won’t replace Katy Perry as an American Idol judge

Kelly Clarkson is putting an end to rumors about her replacing Katy Perry on American Idol.

The inaugural winner of the reality series has no plans to become a judge in the singing competition and recently explained the reason why.

“I can’t do that, only because I promised my kids. I was like, ‘I wanna be there as much as I possibly can,’”  Clarkson explained in an interview with Entertainment Tonight at the Daytime Emmy Awards.

“And it would put me in L.A., and that’s why I had to quit The Voice, which I love that team. And I miss them so much.”

Clarkson had been balancing her roles as a coach on NBC’s The Voice and as a host of her daytime talk show in LA, but she relocated to the East Coast last year to spend more time with her kids.

“I wanted a life for us. And we enjoy the park every day, and we enjoy each other,” she explained to the outlet.

“As a parent — people get this — you only get so much time until they don’t want to hang out with you. That’s the reason [I can’t do Idol]. It’s my kiddos.”

Perry bid farewell to American Idol after seven seasons on the show, marking the end of her stint with the ABC revival of the singing competition alongside Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie. The judging panel had remained unchanged since Season 16 until Perry’s departure.

ABC has yet to reveal who will fill Perry’s position for the upcoming Season 23 of the show.