The full truth. Kelly Clarkson hasn’t held back when talking — or singing — about her ex Brandon Blackstock.
The “Miss Independent” songstress, 41, got candid about her messy divorce from Blackstock, 46, during the Monday, June 12, episode of “We Can Do Hard Things With Glennon Doyle” podcast. “If there’s always this tug-of-war happening, like, ‘Oh my god I love you, but god I hate you, you are just horrible.’ That’s not healthy,” she confessed. “That’s just emotionally going 9-0 … but you finally get away from that and you realize how ‘OK this actually feels better.’”
The former American Idol champion married Blackstock in 2013 and the pair share daughter River Rose, 8, and son Remington, 7. Us Weekly confirmed in June 2020 that Clarkson filed for divorce after seven years of marriage. Following their split, the twosome engaged in a messy legal battle fighting over their marital assets, including Clarkson’s Montana residence where Blackstock resided and custody of their two minor children — which went on for two years.
In March 2022, the Kelly Clarkson Show host agreed to pay her ex-husband a one-time sum of $1.3 million and $115,000 per month in spousal support until January 2024. The “Since U Been Gone” singer also agreed to pay Blackstock $45,601 a month in child support until their kids are no longer minors. Clarkson, meanwhile, was awarded primary custody of their little ones while Blackstock received monthly visitations. In May 2023, Clarkson revealed she and her kids were moving to the East Coast for her talk show as it relocates to film in New York City.
“Any kind of dependency [in a relationship] I feel like takes away from what the core loving relationship should be. No, I don’t need you for any of that, I’m choosing you,” Clarkson explained to host Glennon Doyle. “I could freely be giving it to anyone and I’m freely giving it to you and only you. I think that’s so beautiful … [and some] people don’t agree.”
Earlier this month, the Grammy winner released her 10th studio album, Chemistry, which detailed her past romance and the changes she made to her personal life. During her Monday appearance on the podcast, Clarkson explained she went “back and forth” about having the record start at the beginning of her relationship but felt “sonically it was odd.”
“The whole [relationship] was a rollercoaster,” she quipped. “It’s fine if the [track] sequencing is that … but that’s how you feel when you go through something.”
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Keep scrolling for Clarkson’s biggest revelations about Blackstock:
