A new Kelly Clarkson cover has left the Sapphics in shambles.
During the Valentine’s Day episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show, the American Idol alum took to the stage for her regular Kellyoke segment. Covering songs in various genres throughout modern music history has become one of the highlights of her show, and for this particular special episode, she went with "Your Love" by The Outfield.
Now, if you’ve seen any of Clarkson’s other Kellyoke performances, you may already be aware of one delightful factor at play here: She never changes the pronouns in the lyrics. And while gendered pronouns don’t come into play anywhere in "Your Love," Clarkson stuck to her guns with one key line:
"So many things that I wanna say / You know I like my girls a little bit older."
And she topped the whole thing off with a wink, seconds before every Sapphic fan melted into the floor, never to be heard from again.
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"Kelly Clarkson’s wink has single-handedly thrown the lesbian community into a state of emergency," TikToker @thehaleybrook joked. "The gay panic is real…and it’s serious. Lesbians, stay vigilant."
Sure enough, even though the performance took place nearly two weeks ago, queer fans are still struggling to recover.
"Kelly Clarkson winking 'I like my girls a little bit older' has been living in my head rent free for 10 days," one wrote on X.
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"anyone on here also crashing out over kelly clarkson’s cover of your love??? very on brand with me liking my girls a little bit older"
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"kelly clarkson’s cover of your love and the way she sings 'you know I like my girls a little bit older' has sent me into a spirallllll"
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If you're still jonesing for more Clarkson after rewatching that clip a hundred or so times, we've got great news—she's actually covered a ton of songs by queer female artists as part of Kellyoke. Go forth and enjoy!
Kelly Clarkson covering "Your Love" by The Outfield.