Kelly Clarkson divorced her ex-husband Brandon Blackstock in 2020 following a nine-year marriage, during which time they welcomed children River Rose, nine, and Remington Alexander, seven.
Although she has opened up in the past about her own mental health struggles following her "catastrophic" split, she has now discussed the difficult conversations she's been forced to have with her kids.
In a candid chat with Penn Badgley, Nava Kavelin, and Sophie Ansari on the Podcrushed podcast, Kelly began: "I'd say the most catastrophic thing [that has happened in my life] was probably my divorce. That was pretty horrible," she explained, adding that it did lead to a positive move to New York. "It really is all-consuming, grief in general."
She went on to candidly open up about how her young children began to question love as a result. "When you do go through a divorce, especially with young kids, the definition of love comes up quite a bit," she said, and Penn added they begin asking: "So you don't love daddy anymore?"
The Stronger singer replied: "I love that Daddy gave me you two. We just don't like each other like we did, you know. And It's just different now.
"And then you see it on their face when you have these conversations, because they question, 'Can your love change for me?'"
This comes shortly after the 41-year-old mother-of-two hinted that her children have felt "angry" and "hurt" following the divorce.
Discussing young people's mental health during Audacy's I'm Listening initiative, Kelly said: "I think it's just a really cool thing that my little girl or my little boy will walk in the room and be like, 'Look, I'm feeling angry right now, and I don't know why,' or, 'Look, I'm feeling hurt right now, or this hurt my feelings.," she said.
"Things they do, I never did as a kid, and they're just so advanced for where I was at their age, and I just think there's nothing more beautiful than someone learning at a very young age how to express themselves and how to actually pay attention to how they're feeling."
Kelly and Brandon got married at Blackberry Farms in Tennessee's Smoky Mountain foothills back in 2013, and the American Idol star was a beautiful bride in a Temperley London lace wedding gown. The former couple announced their plans to split in 2020, and their divorce was finalised in 2022.
It was agreed that Kelly will pay Brandon $115,000 each month in spousal support until January 2024, but she has primary custody of their two children.
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