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Kelly Clarkson, 40, has opened up about how her kids handled the tough divorce she went through with their father, Brandon Blackstock. “I literally ask my kids every night when we’re snuggling, ‘Are you happy? And if you’re not, what could make you happier?’” she revealed during the March 13 episode of the Angie Martinez IRL podcast. “I want them to be honest, so I don’t ever say, ‘Oh God, don’t tell me that.’ But a lot of times it would be like, ‘You know, I’m just really sad. I wish Mommy and Daddy were in the same house.’ And they’re really honest about it. And I’m raising that kind of individual.”
Kelly, who was married to her former manager, 45, between 2013 and 2021, went on to say she can empathize with her kids because she, too, is a child of divorce. “I just sit there and I’m like, ‘I get it. I’m from a divorced family as well. I get it. That sucks. But we’re going to work it out. And you are so loved by both of us,’” she explained. “I think communicating with them and not treating them — not treating them like an adult, because they’re not — but not treating them like a child. They’re not small feelings. Those are huge feelings, and those are huge emotions.”
Kelly has an 8-year-old daughter, River, and a 6-year-old son, Remi, 6, with Brandon. She previously admitted navigating her new normal with kids has been quite difficult during a June 2022 appearance on The Chart Show with Brooke Reese. “It’s been the hardest thing to navigate. I’ve never had this difficult of a project,” she said about writing new music post-divorce. “It’s one of those things where I’m a human and I’m going through something huge. Obviously, everybody knows a huge divorce went through and it’s been like, two years and not easy with kids.”
Like her kids, Kelly felt awful about her divorce after she filed in June 2020. “Kelly is dealing with all the emotions one can deal with concerning her divorce,” a person close to the Grammy winner EXCLUSIVELY told HollywoodLife in Aug. 2021. “She has been sad, angry, shocked and every emotion one can feel, she has felt it.”
As fans may recall, the divorce wasn’t completely amicable. In 2021, Kelly was ordered to pay her ex $200,000 a month in spousal support by a Los Angeles County judge. She was also required to pay $1.25 million toward Brandon’s attorney fees. “She thinks it is crazy that she has to spend so much money in support. Her work is keeping her busy and away from it for a period of time in the day but it’s always in the back of her mind and it is clearly upsetting,” the insider added. Furthermore, an insider told Us Weekly in Aug. 2021 that Brandon was jealous of Kelly’s success and wasn’t afraid to let that be known.
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