“We are who we are”: Singer hits back at fat shamers

It's been a brilliant couple of years for Kelly Clarkson – she got married, welcomed her first child and became a mentor on the show that made her famous, American Idol.

Aside from all her successes though, Kelly has had to deal with a barrage of criticism about her weight, and she has revealed she is sick of it being an issue.

Just last month, Kelly was forced to retaliate publicly when the silver-tongued Katie Hopkins lashed out at her for no reason at all, asking Twitter if Kelly had eaten "all of her backing singers":

Ouch. Kelly responded brilliantly at the time, saying, "I’m awesome! It doesn’t bother me. It’s a free world. Say what you will." All the same, she admitted this week that the comments about her weight have become increasingly upsetting.

Speaking on The Ellen Show, Kelly addressed her haters, saying, "I love how people think that’s new — like, welcome to the past 13 years. Yeah, I was the biggest girl on [American Idol], too. And I wasn’t big, but people would call me big because I was the biggest one on Idol, and I’ve kind of always gotten that.”

Despite her tough attitude, Kelly admitted the comments can be hurtful at times, especially when they come from someone she knows or from a fan.

"Well, it hurts your feelings more if it’s someone else that you like,” she said. “I think what hurts my feelings for people is that I’ll have a meet-and-greet after the show and a girl who’s, like, bigger than me will be in the meet-and-greet and be like, ‘Wow, if they think you’re big, I must be so fat to them.'”

However Kelly says she isn't going to let the negative comments get her down. "We are who we are," she said. "So sometimes I’m more fit and I get into kickboxing hardcore. And then sometimes I don’t, and I’m like… I’d rather have wine."

Holla!