Kelly Clarkson says her kids wish ‘mommy and daddy were in the same house’

Divorce is never, ever easy. Not for the couple divorcing, and not for the people who love that couple—especially if they have children together. Kelly Clarkson is opening up about her own divorce, and the heartbreaking reaction her kids still have over their parents’ split.

Clarkson first filed for divorce from her ex-husband Brandon Blackstock in 2020 after seven years of marriage, but the divorce wasn’t finalized until last March. The couple have two children together: River, 8, and Remington, 6. During the March 13 episode of The Angie Martinez IRL Podcast, Clarkson explained how her kids still feel sad and hurt over the divorce.

“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 shares. “Sometimes they’ll say, especially the past two years, 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.'”

She says it’s her goal to raise honest kids, so she’s glad her kids don’t hold back—even if it hurts her mama’s heart to hear their feelings. And because she grew up as a child of divorce herself, Clarkson can relate to River and Remington’s experience.

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“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,'” Kelly 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.”

They’ve also asked their mom the dreaded—but valid and normal—question:

“My kids ask me all the time, ‘So you don’t love him anymore?'” Kelly shared. “I’m like, ‘No, I don’t know if that goes away.'”

Just call her Kelly Clarkson Divorce Guru, because she’s handling her kids’ feelings and questions like a pro. My own parents had the most contentious divorce of all time (they make Johnny Depp and Amber Heard seem normal), and it would have made such a world of difference to my sister and I had our parents had a fraction of the grace and love Clarkson has for her kids.

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She says as for the future, she’d love to fall in love again—but marriage and combining families isn’t in the cards for her again.

“I won’t be getting married,” the musician declared. “I didn’t have the most positive experience with step-situations and re-marrying and I didn’t have the most positive situation growing up,” she said. “I will not do that to my children. I would love to fall in love, but I don’t want another dude in my house with my children.”