Kelly Clarkson‘s had a very busy year— from hosting her daytime talk show to helping kick off American Song Contest with Snoop Dogg to even dropping a cover album among other creative endeavors. The “Since U Been Gone” hitmaker, 40, just sat down for a new interview on Today to discuss her long-awaited summer break from work, recent time spent with family, and also alluded to her tumultuous divorce from talent manager, Brandon Blackstock.
“I hadn’t had a minute and it’s obviously been a rough couple of years,” Clarkson confessed to hosts Hoda Kotb and Carson Daly, “So it was really important to me to, like, shut down for a minute.” The “rough” years Clarkson seems to be referring to include her divorce from her husband of eight years.
@kellyclarkson is live in studio talking about the brand-new season of The Kelly Clarkson Show @KellyClarksonTV, her family, and more! pic.twitter.com/yu7Mq6acMT
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) August 23, 2022
The former couple share two children; daughter River, 8, and Remington, 6, and Clarkson also said in her interview that she and Blackstock had recently spent the summer in Montana with their kids. “The kids were with me and with their dad,” she explained, “It was nice because they usually have to travel a lot because of our separation. So we were both in Montana. It felt kind of the first time—I think my kids felt—a little more centered as well. So it was nice.”
Clarkson also revealed that she enjoyed four-wheeling, going for walks and just having special moments in nature with her children during this time. She was also able to see her sister, her nephew and friends while in Montana, and also added that she is continually in awe of how fast her kids are growing up. “She’s like up here, and she’s 8,” Clarkson said, regarding River’s height. “She’s so tall. And Remy is, god, he’s such a little man. I love him so much.”
As summer 2022 comes to a close, Clarkson also noted that River and Remy will soon be heading back to school, and for the first time, the siblings will be attending together. “This is the first year they’re going to the same school because he’s now in kindergarten,” Clarkson said, “He’s very excited about the big playground.” (Aww!)
View this post on Instagram
While Clarkson has officially spoken about her divorce here and there, the “Breakaway” singer has also expressed making her family’s privacy her main priority. This, she said on a 2020 episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show, is to protect her and Blackstock’s children (he also shares two kids from previous marriage to Melissa Ashworth).
“What I’m dealing with is hard because it involves more than just my heart. It involves a lot of little hearts,” the American Idol winner said at the time. “We have four kids, and divorce is never easy. And we’re both from divorced families so we know the best thing here is to protect our children and their little hearts.”
