Kelly Clarkson filed for divorce from Brandon Blackstock in June. She has spoken a little since then in interviews and on her show about how hard that has been for her.
Now, she's explaining to Entertainment Tonightwhy she chose to speak publicly about it—and how difficult it has been finding that balance between being candid with her fans and protecting her and Blackstock's children. Blackstock and Clarkson have two children together, daughter River, 6, and son Remington, 4. Blackstock has two teenage children, Savannah, 18, and Seth, 13, from a previous marriage.
"There's a lot of hearts involved here," Clarkson said. "And you know, that's the thing that's been kind of hard to navigate is I am an open book, but at some point I'm a mama bear more than I am a person in the public eye. So, I care one hundred percent more about my children than I do anything else on this planet. So, that's been the hard thing of, like, yes, I'm willing to share my experience and yes, it is the worst. I mean, the past few months have been horribly sad. But at the same time, I have to think, 'Hmmm, like, what I say has a domino effect in other people's lives.'"
She's still figuring out how to navigate the split in the public eye, she added: "I've been through two divorces in my family, husband as well in his own family as a child. We didn't have social media around when that happened. And, like, having kids that run the gambit of four to 19 is a really tough thing. And, you know, I've had conversations with one of our eldest about how difficult it is in the public eye when your parents are so…you know, one of them is so prominent and having to navigate that for them is hard on their hearts. I'm just careful also while being real."
No one is at fault for what happened, she continued: "Like I said, nothing's wrong with anybody, it's just...it happens, and that's why there's nothing to hide about it in that sense. You know, it's just, divorce is a really sh*tty thing."