Kelly Clarkson Opens Up About the Moment She Knew She Had to Divorce Her Husband

Kelly Clarkson is opening up about her divorce from Brandon Blackstock.

On a Nov. 30 episode of her talk show, Clarkson virtually hosted guests Alicia Keys and author Glennon Doyle. The singer, who filed for divorce from her husband back in June, got candid when discussing the most difficult aspects of the process.

“There are so many hard parts,” Clarkson explained to her guests. “The hardest for me is the kids. I think as women, especially, we’re trained to take it all on and you can deal with it and you’re fine, but it’s your babies you worry about.”

According to court documents, Clarkson recently won primary physical and legal custody of her children, River and Remington; they will live together in Los Angeles. The ruling cited “increasing conflict and trust issues” between the pair, further reading:

“The Court finds that under the circumstances present in this case, the interest in providing stability and continuity for the minor children weighs in favor of Petitioner having primary custody.”

During the episode, Doyle shared her own experience with divorce. The author, whose new book “Untamed” shines light on the subject, sympathized with Clarkson’s need to feel like a “martyr.”

“We’ve all been trained to believe a good mother is a martyr,” she said. “I didn’t leave a marriage in spite of being a good mother. I left because I am a good mother.”

Doyle also said she didn’t believe she’d broken up her family by getting divorced. Instead, she says she wanted to set a good example for her daughter about what constitutes a healthy marriage.

We’re trained to believe to avoid at all costs a broken family,” she said. “One day I was looking at my daughter and I thought, Oh my God, I’m staying in this marriage for her, but would I want this marriage for her? And if I would not want this for her, then why am I modeling bad love and calling that good mothering?”

Clearly agreeing with this sentiment, Clarkson told Doyle the segment of her book that touched on mothers being martyrs really opened her eyes to the issues in her own marriage. In a sense, Clarkson says, it was the catalyst for calling it quits with Blackstock.

“I realized, this isn’t happiness, and we both deserve better,” Clarkson said. “Neither one of us would want this for our children. Reading that line so hit home for me, not selfishly but for the family. It’s like, I don’t want this for everyone in this scenario right now.”

When do the benefits of splitting up outweigh staying together for the kids? Have you ever had an aha moment in your own marriage? Let us know in the comments!