Kelly Clarkson said her kids are still suffering emotionally following her divorce.
The 40-year-old singer opened up about what’s been going on in her family during a recent episode of the “Angie Martinez’s IRL Podcast.” Clarkson said that her two children, River, 8, and Remington, 6, have struggled to adjust to living without their dad in the house.
Clarkson and her husband of almost seven years, Brandon Blackstock, filed for divorce in June 2020, citing “irreconcilable differences.”
“I literally ask my kids every night when we’re snuggling, ‘Are you happy?’ And if you’re not, what could make you happier?” Clarkson said on the podcast.
“Sometimes they’ll say — especially the past two years, a lot of it, and it kills me and 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,” the “American Idol” winner continued.
Clarkson went on to discuss how she understands her kids’ feelings because she also grew up with divorced parents.
“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,'” the singer went on. “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.”
She also described Blackstock as her first love. “My kids ask me all the time, ‘So you don’t love him anymore?’ I’m like, ‘No, I don’t know if that goes away,'” Clarkson said.
The “Stronger” singer also said she doesn’t plan on getting remarried.
“I won’t be getting married,” Clarkson explained. “In my life, I’ve been through a couple of divorces in my own family as a kid. I would love to fall in love. I would love to find someone and fall in love and do that thing, but I have children and that’s why I say that.”