To hear Heidi Gardner tell it, Kelly Clarkson was part of the reason she was up, up, up, up all night long for so many years as part of the Saturday Night Live cast.

Auditioning in 2017, "I did 12 characters," Gardner recounted in a joint chat with Kenan Thompson for WSJ. Magazine . "I wanted to make it undeniable."

Among the roles she embodied, was "this crazed Mary Kay executive makeup woman giving a seminar," she shared on The Kelly Clarkson Show last year, telling the host that one of her singles played a key role.

"Every time I would hit a point, I would then make eye contact with the audience, start tracking across the stage while 'Heartbeat Song' was playing," Gardner continued. "So it was like, 'This is my heartbeat song.'"

Cast that same year, the Kansa

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