Kelly Clarkson has joked that her three-year-old daughter is into "bad boys."

Kelly Clarkson

Kelly Clarkson

The 35-year-old singer has quipped that she'll be in for a hard time when her little girl River, whom she has with her husband Brandon Blackstock, grows up because she's already shown an interest in naughty boys by developing a soft spot for Beauty and the Beast's Gaston during a recent trip to Disneyland in Los Angeles.

Taking to her Instagram account, the 'Since U Been Gone' hitmaker uploaded a photograph of River swooning over the character and accompanied it with the caption: "Oh great so she's into bad boys at the age of 3. This should be fun #Disneyland. (sic)"

Meanwhile, Kelly came under fire earlier this week when she admitted that she spanks her children but she'll always warn them before she strikes them.

The blonde star - who also has Remington, 20 months, with her husband Brandon Blackstock, and also helps to raise his two kids from his previous marriage - said: "I'm not above a spanking, which people aren't necessarily into.

"And I don't mean like hitting her hard, I just mean a spanking... I'm like, 'Hi, I'm gonna spank you on your bottom if you don't stop right now. Like, this is ridiculous.'

"So that's a tricky thing when you're out in public, 'cause then people are like, you know, they think that's wrong or something, but I find nothing wrong with a spanking."

Kelly defended her decision, and argued she'd turned out "fine" despite being spanked for her own misdeeds while growing up in Texas.

She said: "My parents spanked me, I did fine in life and I feel fine about it...

"I'm from the South, y'all, so we get spankings. My mom would call the principal if I ever ended up in the principal's office and give permission for her to spank me...I'm a well-rounded individual with a lot of character, so I think it's fine."