Kelly Clarkson is opening up about how her life has been since the start of the divorce process. Kelly filed for divorce from her husband, Brandon Blackstock, back in June, and since that time, life has been tough. Now she's getting incredibly candid about how the process has been going. Kelly talked with Willie Geist over the weekend on Sunday Today With Willie Geist. During that interview, she said, "I mean, it's no secret. My life has been a little bit of a dumpster."
It's pretty refreshing to hear, honestly. Just about everyone who goes through a divorce can find themselves pretty shocked by all the upheaval. Even those who feel ready to leave their marriage have to navigate so many changes, like going from one to two homes and dividing time with their kids, while working through the process. For Kelly, even though she has plenty of financial resources to help things along, it's still been incredibly tough. "Personally, it's been a little hard the last couple months," she said.
Most people know that divorce can really take its toll. But we don't hear celebrities open up about it too much. Usually, they stay pretty hush-hush about the low points of divorce. But the truth is that even in the best of circumstances, it can feel excruciating to go through.
For celebrities, while they may have more money, which is so helpful when it comes to dividing your life, they also have the added stress of being in the public eye. Kelly says that talking to friends has been hugely important for her.
"I've been talking to friends that have been through divorce. I don't know how people go through that without having some kind of outlet because it is the worst thing ever for everyone involved," she said.
Kelly and her estranged husband have two kids together, daughter River Rose, 6, and son Remington Alexander, 4. Kelly is also stepmom to Brandon's children from a previous marriage: Savannah, 18, and Seth, 13. While kids are an absolute blessing, it likely feels like a lot to navigate when families split in two. The kids have to cope with separate homes, and for parents, that can bring up a lot of feelings of guilt.
While Kelly's life might feel like a "dumpster," she also has a lot going for her right now, too. Her new talk show has gotten rave reviews. And she just recently won an Emmy for it, though she almost missed that altogether!
"I totally forgot that the Emmys were on," she told Willie Geist when describing how she learned she had won outstanding talk show host.
"I'm sitting there playing with Legos with my kid. My executive producer Alex calls me and is, like, 'You are the best host.' And I was, like, 'Thank you,'" she said. "I was having kind of a hard week, and I literally almost started crying, because I was like, 'This is just the nicest thing to call someone out of nowhere and just be kind.' And she was, like, 'No, no, no, no. You won the Emmy for outstanding…' and I was, like, 'What?!'"
While it's hard to imagine that Kelly would forget entirely about the Emmys, it also speaks to where she is right now in her life. She's focusing so much on navigating the process of divorce and being present with her kids that it didn't even occur to her to tune in. It's a pretty relatable moment for a mom going through a painful divorce, and while we know it's tough for Kelly, it's also refreshing to hear that she doesn't have it together all the time.
Kelly shared a message of gratitude over her big win. In it, she made sure to thank her ex, saying he believed in her and that he was the one who convinced her to do the show. It's a pretty powerful statement that shows that even though the two couldn't make their marriage work, they're still committed to being there for one another and remaining a family in some form.
While Kelly is open about her own feelings surrounding her divorce, she has also talked about why it's important to her not to share everything. Though she's a naturally open person, she wants her kids to have some privacy. Obviously, for celebrity children, that's tough enough as it is. So, Kelly says, she's remaining quiet about many of the details of the split.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, she spoke about how she plans to handle how much she will share: "I think that I will navigate a way in which to be open and honest about it eventually, probably via the show, and it'll probably, I'm assuming, happen organically when someone says something in conversation or something." She added that she's being cautious since "there are a lot of little hearts involved."
No matter what Kelly feels at this moment, we think she's doing an amazing job navigating some really tough stuff. Her ability to be open and honest while also making sure her kids feel safe, loved, and respected is truly incredible. No matter what, she always puts her kids first, and it shows.
