Kelly Clarkson blames a thin celebrity dating pool for the perception that she is a lesbian (not that there is anything wrong with that). The boys just don’t know how to treat a lady.

“Man, I just keep going on horrible dates,” she tells Parade magazine. “I’m like, ‘There’s not enough wine in the world for me to enjoy this.'”

The winner of “American Idol’s” first season, Clarkson has been dogged by speculation about her sexuality, and not totally without reason.

She attributes some of the speculation to her small hometown, where everyone is married with kids or about to have kids.

“That’s why people think I’m gay, because they’re like, ‘Why aren’t you married?'”

She also has rarely been seen on a date with a man, and is not known to have had a steady relationship in the nine years since she’s been in the spotlight.

“I actually had a guy say to me—and I hope he sees this because he is so ridiculous—he said, ‘I can’t believe I’m on a date with Kelly Clarkson.’ And under my breath I was like, ‘Wow, I can’t either.’

“Some days I think, “I’ll meet him. Everybody finds somebody,” and other days I’m like, ‘Maybe I won’t. Maybe I just missed the memo.’

Not that she doesn’t have high hopes for the future. “Hopefully I’m … married with four kids,” she said in a separate interview with The Daily Beast. “I love what I do right now, but I live a very single life.”

Then, again, Kelly seems more insecure about how she’s perceived than she let’s on.

Later in the interview, she lets it be known she likes to wear dresses. No Ellen DeGeneres here.

“People think I’m a jeans-all-the-time girl, but I adore dresses. Let’s face it, if you have a butt, then it’s just much easier to wear a dress!”

Her new album, entitled Stronger is all about “empowerment and strength,” she said.