Kelly Clarkson has any number of accomplishments she can point to: three Grammy Awards, a successful talk show and, of course, her "American Idol" win in 2002.
She's also the name behind a famous bit of swearing done by Steve Carell in 2005's "The 40-Year-Old-Virgin." In a memorable scene, Carell's character is getting his chest waxed, and as the peel comes away he shouts in agony, "Aah ... Kelly Clarkson!"
And finally, we know the story behind that scene, thanks to a chat Clarkson had with "Virgin" director Judd Apatow during a remote episode of "The Kelly Clarkson Show." Clarkson's the one who brought up the subject, asking Apatow, who was on hand to promote his new film, "The King of Staten Island," where the idea came from.
"I'm gonna blame that Seth Rogen," explained Apatow. "There's a picture I think you have with a piece of paper with all the curses that we gave Steve to scream when he gets waxed and in the middle the column says 'clean words' — right in the middle, it says 'Kelly Clarkson.'"
The show then actually revealed that all-important list, with the real swears blurred out.
"It doesn't matter what I do in my life," Clarkson said, "No one remembers me for anything other than that."
Well, that might not be true, though much hay has been made out of the curse — when Carell visited Clarkson on her show last September, he introduced her onto the stage by crying out, "Live on tape from Universal Studios in Hollywood, ladies and gentlemen, ahhhhh Kelly Clarkson!" The pair met for the first time 13 years after the film was released, at 2018's Golden Globe Awards, and they got a terrific photo op out of it.
"Finally," wrote Carell.
But back to the chat with Apatow; after seeing where she ranked on the list, Clarkson chuckled, "That's actually amazing; I love that I made it between 'burger-panties' and 'throbbing-monkey-tail.'"
"And you won!" said Apatow. "It could have been that in the movie."
Hey, we always said Clarkson was a winner, and that's true whether it comes to awards ... or swear words!