Kelly Clarkson Admits Co-Parenting With Ex Brandon Blackstock Is ‘Tough’

Kelly Clarkson filed to divorce her estranged husband, Brandon Blackstock, in June. Ever since then, the two have reportedly been co-parenting their two young children, 6-year-old daughter River and 4-year-old son Remington. During a recent interview with Khloe Kardashian on Clarkson’s talk show, the former American Idol winner opened up about co-parenting with her ex, as PEOPLE noted.

Clarkson and Kardashian discussed the topic of co-parenting (the reality star is currently raising her 2-year-old daughter True with Tristan Thompson). This prompted The Voice coach to open up a little bit about her current co-parenting situation with Blackstock. According to Clarkson, the situation is “tough,” but that the two are determined to have things go as smoothly as possible for the sake of their two kids. Clarkson told Kardashian, You speak about co-parenting, and I’m doing that right now too. It’s tough. … I know with me and Brandon, it’s just a difficult thing because we’re in different places, and it’s like, we both agree on the main things, but it’s a hard thing when you’re not together all the time, for me personally.” The singer added that she and Blackstock always “focus on” their children, explaining, “As long as you make sure it’s about the children and their best interests, then we’re both on board.”

Clarkson initially filed to divorce Blackstock in June 2020 citing “irreconcilable differences.” Months after she filed for divorce, she spoke about the situation on The Kelly Clarkson Show. In September, she noted that she is typically pretty open when it comes to her personal life, but that “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.” She continued to say that “what I’m dealing with is hard — it involves more than just my heart, it involves a lot of little hearts.”

Ultimately, Clarkson said that she’s doing alright and that while she “probably won’t speak about it too much but you definitely will hear it musically,” as she will channel her feelings into her music. Ever since it was announced that the couple split, there have been several updates about their divorce proceedings. In November, Clarkson reportedly won primary custody of the pair’s two kids after a major legal battle. While she has primary custody of the children most of the time, Blackstock has custody of them on the first, third, and fifth weekends of every month.