Kelly Clarkson makes heartbreaking and intimate confession about marriage to ex-husband Brandon Blackstock

Kelly Clarkson has revealed that she has only been in love once, and it was with her ex-husband Brandon Blackstock, with whom she had a contentious divorce. 

“I’ve only been in love, love like that, with my ex. But it doesn’t seem to work out so great for me,” the mom-of-two revealed on The New Yorker Radio Hour. “Then you have to go, ‘What’s wrong with me?’ at some point.” 

“Love has been a hard go for me. Whether it’s parents or friendships even, sometimes,” she added, admitting that “writing love songs is hard for me”. 

“Whenever I write a love song there’s always that elephant in the room of, like, sadness as well,” Kelly shared. 

Kelly also briefly dated fellow American Idol finalist Justin Guarini in the early 2000s. The songstress has spent the last two years bravely – and humorously – handling the very public divorce, and it culminated in the release of her recent album Chemistry, which chronicles the 41-year-old’s relationship ups and down with Brandon. 

Released on June 23, Chemistry, dubbed by Kelly as her “divorce album,” received positive reviews upon release, and on Friday September 22 she released a deluxe version with five new additional tracks and remixes. One of those new songs features a duet with her nine-year-old daughter River Rose, who appeared on track 17, ‘You don’t make me cry’. 

© Chris Polk/E! Entertainment/NBC

“You don’t make me cry, and I cry at everything. You don’t make me feel and I feel more than most, now that says something. Doesn’t it?” Kelly sings on the track, which features vocals by River that were laid down when she was five-years-old. 

On social media, Kelly thanked her daughter for the collaboration, writing: “I can’t wait for y’all to hear the other songs on the deluxe, especially River Rose’s feature. She was 5 yrs old when she was layin’ down tracks for ‘you don’t make me cry’.” 

© Bravo

Kelly is mom to River and son Remington, seven. The ‘Since U Been Gone’ singer met music executive Brand in 2012 at that year’s Super Bowl and they eloped the following year. But in 2020 the pair shocked fans when Kelly filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. 

It was finalized in March 2022 and Kelly has primary custody of the two children who are thriving.

In fact, fans were overjoyed to see the pair appear on stage with their mom as Kelly wrapped her Vegas residency earlier this summer. At one point River Rose made a surprise appearance to duet with her mom on the 2015 hit ‘Heartbeat Song,’ while Remy later ran out on stage to show off his dance moves as Kelly sang ‘Whole Lotta Woman’.