Kelly Clarkson is expecting Christmas to be "tough".

Kelly Clarkson knows holidays can be tough

Kelly Clarkson knows holidays can be tough

The 39-year-old star was "crying [her] face off" when she wrote new song 'Merry Christmas (To the One I Used to Know)' in the aftermath of her June 2020 split from Brandon Blackstock - the father of her children River, seven, and five-year-old Remington - because she was having such a "hard time" so she was keen to create a track for others feeling "alone or lost" during the festive season.

Speaking about the song on her NBC Christmas special, she said: “The holidays come with a whole range of emotions.

“I’m gonna be real with y’all — when I wrote this next song, I was crying my face off, which happens even at Christmastime, everyone. I had just put my kids to bed and I was just going through it, having a really hard time, and it’s been a really tough year for a lot of us.

"And I wrote this song for me, but also because there aren’t many holiday songs for people feeling alone or lost or just plain sad other than Dolly Parton’s classic ‘Hard Candy Christmas,’ which we all love. It’s about getting through a tough holiday. I absolutely love that song and it allowed me to write this.”

Kelly also debuted holiday break-up song 'Christmas Isn’t Canceled (Just You)' and admitted she was "a little nervous" about sharing the track, which she dedicated to her therapist.

She said: “I was honestly a little nervous about sharing this one because it’s not your typical Christmas single.

"But it was the first song that I wrote for this album and I wrote it because a lot of things were taken from us over the last couple of years — people, relationships, jobs, etc. There were so many things taken.

"But instead of looking at everything that’s gone wrong, we should be looking at all the things that have gone right. And that’s what my therapist tells me anyway so that’s who I’m singing to! But no matter what people try to take from you, nobody can cancel Christmas, y’all.”

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