Kelly Clarkson’s deep in grief over ex-hubby Brandon Blackstock’s death — but her talk show’s still slated for a fall return, TMZ has learned.

Sources tell TMZ … “The Kelly Clarkson Show” is locked for a 7th season and the plan is to still drop fresh episodes in September.

Rumors circulated this year that Kelly was going to leave the show because of her numerous absences … though we learned that was because of Blackstock’s illness. We’re told the whole staff knew about Brandon’s illness — but kept it under wraps out of respect for Kelly and Brandon’s privacy.

As we first reported, Brandon lost his battle with melanoma Thursday after a 3-and-a-half-year fight.

Just a day before, Kelly put her Vegas residency on ice over Brandon’s health battle — saying she needed to be with their 2 kids, River and Remington.