Clarkson shared the funny story after a woman in her talk show audience asked about her favorite summer vacation as a kid

Kelly Clarkson; Kelly Clarkson as a child.Credit : Astrid Stawiarz/Getty;The Kelly Clarkson show/Youtube

NEED TO KNOW

Kelly Clarkson revealed on the June 12 episode of her talk show that her mom used to glue her school picture onto scenic backgrounds to recreate family vacation photos
She explained that this was her mom’s creative solution to not being able to afford to take her daughter on trips
“You can go anywhere really. You just post yourself there. You glue yourself there,” she joked of the photo hack

Kelly Clarkson is sharing a surprising childhood anecdote.

During the June 12 episode of her daytime talk show, the 43-year-old host was doing an impromptu Q&A session with her audience members when a woman — who shared that she has two sets of twins — asked Clarkson about her favorite summer vacation as a kid.

“Oh, we were poor. We didn’t do vacations,” the American Idol alum replied. “We, you know, went and played in the backyard.”

Clarkson then revealed her mom’s hilarious summer vacation hack.

“So well, one thing that is funny, though, is our mother would take my school picture and she would cut it out and then she would post me in like the desert,” she said. “She would paste me, she would glue me onto like a desert scene or in the mountains or the Swiss Alps. Oh, she’s on a grassy knoll.”

Kelly Clarkson’s childhood photo with a mountain background.The Kelly Clarkson show/Youtube

“Like, you know, she would just post me somewhere as if, I guess, we had gone [there]. You’re welcome, Mom,” she continued, laughing. “And it was like an artsy thing I think she did, too. But also, yeah, we don’t have vacation pics.”

Clarkson then said that she didn’t think her family was alone in not having room in the budget for summer trips.

“I don’t think everybody can afford to vacation,” she said, asking the original audience member, “How do you afford a vacation with two sets of twins?”

“I’m going to be posting pictures of them at the Swiss Alps,” the woman joked in response.

Clarkson then laughingly said, “You should take the advice. You can go anywhere really. You just post yourself there, you glue yourself there.”

“I don’t know, it was really funny,” Clarkson added. “I’m glad you brought that up so I can embarrass my mother and show the world her artistic endeavors.”

Now that she is a mom herself, Clarkson has had the opportunity to make special vacation memories with her own kids.

In 2021, she and her daughter River Rose, now 11, and son Remington Alexander, 9 — whom she shares with ex Brandon Blackstock — had a Disney World adventure together. At the time, she shared a photo on Instagram of the trio posing in front of a legion of Stormtroopers at the Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance ride.

She wrote in the post’s caption: “We had so much fun at Disney World! All the rides were amazing but oh my gosh, y’all, Pandora and the Star Wars rides are where it’s at! Thank you for a magical vacation, Disney ❤️.”

In a 2022 episode of her talk show, Clarkson got to give every single member of her studio audience the gift of travel, surprising them with an all-expenses-paid vacation to Hawaii.

“I feel like this is what Oprah felt like — I like this feeling!” she said of the epic giveaway at the time.