Kelly Clarkson knows the best ways to get into the holiday spirit!
In a new digital segment for her talk show called “Ambush Thank You,” Clarkson sits down to handwrite a letter for a member of her staff, surprises them with the sweet note, and reads the letter out loud to them to express her gratitude.
On Thanksgiving, Clarkson picked a staffer that is “monumentally pivotal” for her show to happen: her teleprompter operator, Lisa Turner.
“We make so many changes on the fly on this show and we have to move things around and things just happen all the time so she is constantly having to change things on the teleprompter, but also having to have it on time and in sync with me actually being live and in the moment,” Clarkson explained before finishing her note. “It is an incredibly difficult job and I would not want it, but she excels at it. She’s amazing.”
Coincidentally, Turner’s birthday coincided with Clarkson’s surprise, making it a double surprise.
Armed with her handwritten note and a box of cupcakes, Clarkson made her way to the control room for her “ambush.” Before diving into the letter, she sang Turner “Happy Birthday” and presented her with her birthday cupcakes.
“Lisa, thank you so much for being the greatest teleprompter goddess in all of the universe,” the singer started. “Literally, I couldn’t do this job without you. You know that’s true. Thank you for just being a plain bad a—.”
Next, the pair reminisced on the first time they met at Clarkson’s read through with her husband and sister. “I remember it being in a room and I was like ‘oh god, can we hire her for everything?’” Clarkson told Turner. “I’m telling you, it’s a talent. Nobody everyone does a teleprompter that well.”
During their conversation, the co-executive producer of “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” Kevin Burke, chimed in to share a heartfelt sentiment for Clarkson.
“I don’t mean to interrupt, but I do sit next to Lisa every day,” he said. “She says this to me all the time. Even in doing her job, the fact that you call her by name, it is rare.”
When Clarkson seemed shocked, Turner and Burke both confirmed that it is atypical in the industry.
“It’s usually ‘prompter,'” he admitted to the host.
Turner and Clarkson finished their conversation on a high. Or rather, a sugar high. Turner shared her salted caramel cookies with Clarkson and the two paid each other a few more compliments before Clarkson left the control room.
“I’m just so amazed and shocked," Turner said, referring to Clarkson after she left. "She is such a beautiful hearted person and I’m just overwhelmed. Thank you, Kelly. You’re amazing and I love you.”
This wasn't the first time Clarkson surprised a member of her staff with an "ambush thank you." In the first edition of the digital segment, she wrote a letter to her musical director, Jason Halbert.