Kelly Clarkson Gives Update on Her Dating Life Post-Divorce

Kelly Clarkson isn’t quite ready to dive back into dating following her divorce from Brandon Blackstock. The Kelly Clarkson Show host opened up about her romantic life Wednesday while having Shannen Doherty as a guest on her show. Speaking candidly about divorce with the Beverly Hills, 90210 star, who is currently going through a separation of her own, Clarkson revealed that she’s been single since her divorce was finalized in 2022.

“I think I need a little more work on me in a relationship to make sure I take care of myself at the same time as somebody else,” Clarkson explained, noting that divorce is so “hard” because “you thought you were going to spend forever with this person.” Despite how difficult divorce is, the American Idol winner noted she’s still “really enjoying” spending time with herself. “I am still in the stage of really enjoying me so I’m not there,” she added.

Clarkson and Blackstock tied the knot in 2013 and went on to have two children together, daughter River Rose, 9, and son Remington “Remy” Alexander, 7. In 2020, The Grammy winner filed for divorce in 2020, and the contentious split was finalized two years later. Doherty is also currently going through a divorce, filing to end her marriage to Kurt Iswarienko in April after 11 years of marriage.

The Charmed alum alleged earlier this month that she learned her husband was having an affair shortly before going into brain surgery as part of her cancer treatment. “It’s been a very hard year for me and it was a very devastating thing to go through,” Doherty told Clarkson. “There were some very shocking revelations.”

As Clarkson and Doherty opened up about the adjustment to single life, they also shared more light-hearted details about how their lives have changed since filing for divorce. For Clarkson, ending her marriage meant allowing her dogs to sleep in bed with her, a change she’s not sure she could reverse if she wanted.  

“We didn’t allow dogs in the bed because it was for fun … you know, that kind of fun,” the “Breakaway” singer shared of her life with her ex-husband prior to their split. “But ever since I’ve been separated, now divorced, my dogs have been, like, ruling my bed so I think that they would hate the next person that came in.”