Steve Carell Scared to Meet Kelly Clarkson, Worried She Was Mad Over '40-Year Old Virgin' Shout Out

Steve Carell admitted on "The Tonight Show" Thursday night that he was actually pretty nervous the first time he met Kelly Clarkson, which only happened earlier this year at the Golden Globes.

"I thought she'd be mad at me," Carell told Jimmy Fallon. "I wasn't sure because I'd never met her over those years."

There were 13 of those years, dating back to Carell's ad-libbed shout-out in "The 40-Year Old Virgin" in 2005. The Internet went crazy when the two were seen together at the star-studded event in January because of their crazy shared history, despite having never met before that night.

The chest-waxing scene from "Virgin" became an instant classic, and in no small part because Carell's character inexplicably shouted out Kelly Clarkson's name. It was an ad lib from Carell that made the final cut, and left him a little worried about how Clarkson might take it.

Carell imagined her questioning the scene, asking, "Is he making fun of me? Why would he say that in anguish?"

It turns out his fears were totally unfounded. Kelly Clarkson is "the best," as he put it. And the feeling is mutual, with Clarkson telling "Access" back in January that Carell is "the nicest human."

With Kelly Clarkson poised to get her own talk show starting in the fall of 2019, we have a great suggestion for her first guest! Since they don't know one another well, they could have a fun and interesting conversation about their lives and mutual respect for their respective careers.

We can picture the opening skit for the show now, with Carell lying on a table only to have Clarkson herself come in and prep the wax. "Say my name now!" she'd shout at him.

Actually, we'd love to see these two collaborate in some way. They're both very funny and charming people, and it would be one of those pop culture collaborations that we all didn't even know we wanted but the universe has been crying out for since Carell randomly shouted her name 13 years ago.

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