On September 4, 2002, Kelly Clarkson won American Idol, and she was promised $1 million and a car. Or so she thought.
It has been 23 years, and she still hasn’t gotten that car she was promised. Nor did she get that $1 million in prize money.
What? That is what she told The Traitors’ winner, Rob Rauch, on her talk show when he revealed to her that he has not gotten his prize money for winning the show.
Then, I think she wanted to make him feel better, and she told him, “You probably weren’t alive when I was on American Idol, but I was literally on the show, and they were like, ‘Oh, you win a million dollars,’ or whatever. No, you didn’t. They lied. You did not, no. It was like a million dollars’ worth of investment in you. And then they said you get a car, and I needed it because my car is bashed in and I couldn’t afford the deductible.”
But hey, she got the movie From Justin to Kelly. Oh, wait, that will not make things sound any better to her or anyone else but me, who liked that film.
Anyways, she concluded her thoughts by jokingly telling Rausch that he will never see the money. I bet he wishes he knew that before he bought Maura Higgins that Birkin.
Fun fact: You have to pay the taxes on your winnings of any prize. So in the long run, it might be better not to take the prize. That is why there are rooms on studio lots dedicated to all of the game show prizes that people rejected rather than pay the taxes on something that is not really worth it.
