Kelly Clarkson Says Brandon Blackstock Divorce 'Wasn't an Overnight Decision': 'It Rips You Apart'

Kelly Clarkson is looking back on how it felt to make the decision to get divorced from ex-husband Brandon Blackstock after nearly seven years of marriage.

The Grammy winner and talk show host appeared on a new episode of Angie Martinez's IRL podcast, during which she spoke about splitting from Blackstock, with whom she shares two children: River Rose, 8, and Remington Alexander, 6.

"What does divorce do to you? Because it has to shift you, right?" asked the host, 52.

"It rips you apart," explained Clarkson, 40, "whenever you fall in love with someone and it doesn't work."

The "Miss Independent" musician continued, "I think the thing about divorce — especially having it publicized, and people thinking they know the whole thing — the hardest part of that is, like, it wasn't an overnight decision."

"Anyone that's been divorced [knows]. That was years in trying to make — not make it work, 'cause I never wanted to be part of something to 'make it work,'" added Clarkson. "I wanted to make it beautiful. I wanted to make it awesome. I wanted to make it everything it possibly could be, and sometimes that just doesn't happen."

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Weiss Eubanks/NBC/Getty Kelly Clarkson

She and Blackstock, 46, got engaged after six years of dating in December 2012 and wed the following October. In 2020, the American Idol winner filed for divorce from the music manager, and it was finalized two years later.

Elsewhere in the IRL interview, Clarkson opened up about her kids' feelings about the divorce, noting that she makes it a ritual to check on them and gauge their feelings.

"I ask my kids every night when we're snuggling and I put them to bed, 'Are you happy? And if you're not, what could make you happier?'" Clarkson said. "Especially the past two years ... it kills me [but] 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, 'I'm just really sad. I wish Mommy and Daddy were in the same house.' They're really honest about it. I'm raising that kind of individual."

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic Kelly Clarkson and Brandon Blackstock with their kids

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The Voice coach added, "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.'"

"I think [it's important to be] communicating with them and ... not treating them like an adult, because they're not, but not treating them like a child," she continued. "They're not small feelings. Those are huge feelings, and those are huge emotions."