Kelly Clarkson reveals how kids River and Remington handled her divorce from Brandon Blackstock

Kelly Clarkson had to navigate the fallout from her divorce from Brandon Blackstock, 46, with her kids, River Rose, nine, and Remington Alexander, seven.

During an appearance on the Podcrushed podcast last week, the Stronger singer, 41, said: ‘When you do go through a divorce, especially with young kids, the definition of love comes up quite a bit.’

She told hosts Penn Badgley, Nava Kavelin, and Sophie Ansari that the split caused her kids to say, ‘So you don’t love daddy anymore?’

The question surprised her and she recalled that she replied: ‘I love that Daddy gave me you two. We just don’t like each other like we did. It’s just different now.’

The Since U Been Gone singer – who admitted needing to rely on anti-depressants to get through her split –  filed for divorce in 2020 after seven years of marriage. The divorce was final in 2022 after years of contentious court battles. 

The Because of You hitmaker said the hardest part was when ‘you can see it on their face. They question, “Can your love change for me?”‘

The devoted mom of two elaborated, saying: ‘It’s hard. And then it’s hard when they go, “Why don’t I have a grandpa from you?”

“You told me love is different with a parent and a child than with a husband and a wife. But it’s not because your dad left you.”

The Breakaway songstress was estranged from her father for years before he died in 2019.

And the divorce wasn’t easy on her either. During an appearance last month on Las Culturistas podcast she admitted she turned to antidepressants to get through that period of her life.

‘I looked at my therapist, and I just couldn’t stop sobbing, and I was like, “I actually had to cancel some of the other day because I couldn’t stop crying. I cannot do this,”‘ she said. 

‘And it was one of those things where I really had to put my pride aside and, like, all my childhood issues of whatever.’

One good thing to come out of her divorce is her enduring friendship with Reba McEntire, 68.

Parents: During an appearance on the Podcrushed podcast last week, the Stronger singer, 41, said: ‘When you do go through a divorce, especially with young kids, the definition of love comes up quite a bit’

Happier times: She told hosts Penn Badgley , Nava Kavelin, and Sophie Ansari that the split caused her kids to say, ‘So you don’t love daddy anymore?’

Gentle reminder: The question surprised her and she recalled that she replied: ‘I love that Daddy gave me you two. We just don’t like each other like we did. It’s just different now’

Reba is Kelly’s former stepmother-in-law, she used to be married to Kelly’s ex’s father.

During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live last month, the Chemistry singer told host Andy Cohen the two were still thick as thieves.

‘I mean we were friends before Brandon, we got together, so, yeah,’ she said on June 27. 

‘We were talking before she signed up to do The Voice, we were texting each other about that. We text each other all the time.’