The Truth About Kelly Clarkson And Brandon Blackstock's Marriage

Kelly Clarkson and Brandon Blackstock once seemed like they had the perfect marriage. Us Weekly first reported the two were an item in 2012. They made their public debut that May at a party in Tennessee, and by December, the two were engaged. 

"I'M ENGAGED!!!!! I wanted y'all to know!! Happiest night of my life last night! I am so lucky and am with the greatest man ever," she tweeted at the time, eager to announce the news herself.

Clarkson and Blackstock tied the knot in a surprise wedding in October 2013. Clarkson told People, "I was so emotional, and I didn't realize I was going to be!" Sadly, Clarkson and Blackstock have gone from an emotional beginning to an emotional ending. After seven years of marriage and the birth of their two children, 6-year-old River Rose and 4-year-old Remington Alexander, Clarkson and Blackstock have called it quits. Us Weekly confirmed Clarkson filed for divorce in June 2020, citing irreconcilable differences.

Many fans of the couple were surprised by the split. Clarkson's a pretty candid figure. While she was admitting to feeling the pains of quarantining on her talk show, The Kelly Clarkson Show, with her husband and small children at her Montana home, no one had any idea things had gotten so bad. In the months since, we've learned the truth about the marriage and why it didn't work.

After having her two kids, Clarkson stated she was done while on The Elvis Duran Show. "I'm so glad I never have to be pregnant again," she joked. "Jeez, I'm glad my tubes are gone." Over the years, Clarkson's opinion changed, however. In May, when Gordon Ramsay appeared on her show with his 14-month-old son, she admitted she wanted more babies. "I so want another child, and my husband is like, 'No! We have four!'" she told Gordon on the show. 

The four children she refers to count Blackstock's children from a previous marriage, Savannah and Seth (per PopSugar). As a source shared with Entertainment Tonight, the difference of opinion became one of the factors for their split. "Kelly has always brought up wanting more children, which Brandon doesn't," they shared.

From the sounds of it, it seems like Clarkson was doing the bulk of taking care of the four kids. She joked about in an April 2020 virtual appearance on TODAY With Hoda And Jenna. "Nine times out of 10 my kids are losing it 'cause they have to do school, which is somehow a shock every day, as well as nap time. It's super fun," she laughed. "I'm cooking all the time and cleaning all the time while doing work for several things. It's the most insane thing ever, honestly. And I drink a bit of wine, but we're hanging in there, so it's good."

But that wasn't all. Clarkson and Blackstock were already spending a lot of time together before COVID-19 hit the United States. He worked as her manager and the executive producer on The Kelly Clarkson show (via Vulture), which are a lot of professional ties. When COVID had the entire family quarantining together at their Montana home, the fault lines began to show themselves.

"They clashed on so many levels, and being in quarantine together heightened their problems to the point of no return," a source told Us Weekly. "Everyone thought Kelly and Brandon had the perfect marriage, but they definitely didn't."

The isolation of her marriage falling apart during a time when she can't lean on others has been hard for Clarkson. Music has done a big job of helping her through. In conversation with Garth Brooks on an episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show, she shared his song, "The Dance" helped get through to her and put her in a place to write her own music.

"All of the books were helpful, but it's so funny, I guess because I'm a musician ... I was listening to 'The Dance'... I got the point," she shared. She went on to reveal that the song inspired her to write about her divorce. She's working on a track for her ninth studio album. Although details aren't available yet, Clarkson's fans will be looking forward to this emotional follow-up to 2017's The Meaning Of Life.

The divorce has also been stressful for Clarkson. The amount of legal back and forth that's gone public hints that there were more issues between Clarkson and Blackstock than anyone thought. There some back and forth about issues of custody, as a source revealed to People. They shared Blackstock wanted the children to go "back and forth" from Los Angeles to Montana, despite them always having lived in L.A.

A judge awarded Clarkson primary physical custody, with joint legal custody. "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," court documents read, per USA Today. 

During the season 2 premiere of The Kelly Clarkson Show, Clarkson made it clear that she's not just worried about her own pain, but that of her kids. "What I'm dealing with is hard because it involves more than just my heart," she said. "It involves a lot of little hearts." 

"We have four kids, and divorce is never easy. We're both from divorced families, so we know the best thing here is to protect our children and their little hearts. So I'm usually very open and I usually talk about everything, but in this case I will talk a little bit here and there about how it affects me personally, but probably won't go too far into it because I'm a mama bear and my kids come first."