KELLY CLARKSON opened up about her divorce from Brandon Blackstock on her talk show Tuesday.
One day after it was announced she won primary custody of their children — River Rose, 6, and Remington Alexander, 4 — the Kelly Clarkson Show host, 38, talked about her split while interviewing author Glennon Doyle about her book Untamed, which details the end of Doyle’s first marriage and finding love with soccer superstar Abby Wambach.
“Glennon, you write about the public fallout from your divorce — I’m obviously going through one right now,” said Clarkson, who filed for divorce from the music manager in June after seven years of marriage. “It’s horrible. There are so many hard parts. The hardest for me is the kids.”
She continued, “I always think as women we’re trained to take it all on and you can deal with it and you’re fine. But it’s your babies that you worry about.”
Doyle spoke about how women are trained to “avoid at all costs a broken family,” and as a result, many stay married for their kids. But when she was unhappy in her marriage, she asked herself if she would want that marriage for her daughter. The answer was no, so she decided to stop modeling “bad love” to her child. She summed it up, saying, “I didn’t leave a marriage in spite of being a good mother; I left because I am a good mother. And because a good mother is a model, not a martyr.”
“It’s so interesting that you brought that line up,” the singer replied. “That’s my favorite [line] from your book. Not to put this on you [but] it was that thing I needed to see to make a step in my life. And not just for me, but for my current husband.”
Clarkson said while reading the book she realized, “This isn’t happiness — for both of us,” referring to Blackstock. “I feel both of us deserve better and neither one of us would want this [relationship] for our children. Reading that line so hit home for me — and not selfishly, but for the family. I don’t want this for everyone in this scenario right now. It was just a powerful piece of knowledge that seems so logical but it has never been worded like that to me.”
On Monday, Clarkson was awarded primary physical custody of the children she shares with Blackstock. The kids will reside mostly with her in Los Angeles, where she tapes her talk show and The Voice, while Blackstock calls their Montana ranch home. Blackstock will spend the first, third and fifth weekends of each month with their kids. And — with the exception of one weekend — he’ll be required to travel to them. Further, neither parent is allowed to badmouth the other to their kids, and they can’t consume alcohol or marijuana within eight hours of driving them.
A source close to Clarkson said she’s “pleased” with the ruling.
