Kelly Clarkson’s Ego Made Her Stay In Her Marriage Longer

Kelly Clarkson says that her marriage lasted as long as it did because of her ego. In a new interview, the singer-songwriter opened up about her divorce from ex-husband Brandon Blackstock. Per People, Clarkson, 41, says her ego made her think: "'I can do this. I can handle so much.'"

The talk show host continues, "My ego is: 'I can control my actions, I can control my reactions. I can do this, and I can reach this person, and I can get through.' It becomes a little bit of your ego that gets in the way." When it comes to breaking the patterns her parents exposed her to (they divorced when she was six years old), Clarkson adds, "If I'm being completely honest, we don't want to do what we saw done. I don't want my kids to be those kids at school." She shares son Remington "Remy" Alexander, 7, and daughter River Rose, 8, with Blackstock, whom she divorced in 2020 after nearly seven years of marriage.

Clarkson says that growing up in the south now is "different" than when she was a kid. "They grew up here," she said of her children. "And it's a very progressive city. But in the south, there was like two of us with divorced parents in our class. So it was very different."

Elsewhere in the interview, Clarkson went into detail about the inspiration behind her new song "lighthouse" from her upcoming album, chemistry. She says of her own light dimming in her relationship with Blackstock, "You choose to dim it. If I'm not around people like friends, families, and lovers that are OK with the amount of light that I have then we're just not meant to be together, and that's OK. But to dull yourself so you feel like somebody else can shine or so you feel like you're not in the way or whatever the situation is... that's not a healthy way to live."

She adds of her marriage, "I felt limited. And I don't feel like that's the truth for all marriages. I just think that was my case. To say that's just his fault, that's my fault for allowing that to happen. That's my work as well. It could also be limiting because, as in love as I was, I just wasn't ready. Maybe the other person wasn't either, and you try to make it work, but it doesn't." chemistry releases on June 23.

Kelly Clarkson keeps cranking out amazing covers in her Kellyoke series. The singer and talk show host never fails to entertain with her genre-spanning covers. From Destiny's Child to Lenny Kravitz to Chris Stapleton, you don't know what song she will put her own spin on next.

Clarkson previously released an album of six of her covers from 2022 after "singing over 500" on The Kelly Clarkson Show, which she said was "near-impossible" to choose. The Kellyoke album was released in June of 2022 and features the following songs:

Announcing her upcoming 10th studio album, Chemistry, the singer said she didn’t want “everybody” to think that her emotions could just be simplified as angry or sad. She explained in a video, “This album is definitely the arc of an entire relationship, and a whole relationship shouldn’t be just brought down to one thing. So there’s the good, the bad, the ugly thing kinda going on in it.”

In addition to new music, Clarkson will also be heading to Las Vegas, singing fan favorites and new songs, for a 10-show residency starting July 28.

See our favorite Kellyoke performances of 2023 so far below:

Kelly playfully made Taylor's version her own, as she notes in the caption.

Kelly's rendition of "Do I Wanna Know?" is so powerful and we might like it even better than the original!

Kelly kicked off Black History Month with this powerhouse cover of Destiny Child's 2001 hit song.

Clarkson shows the softness of her voice in this beautiful ballad by emerging artist, Joy Oladokun.

Though it is impossible to out-sing Cher, Clarkson's rendition of 1998's "Strong Enough" is fun and high energy.

Clarkson gives CeCe Peniston a run for her money in this groovy dance cover.

Clarkson blew us away with her version of rock band Spacehog's 1994 song.

Kelly lets us know it ain't over till it's over in this Lenny Kravitz cover of "It Ain’t Over ’til It’s Over."

The talk show host covered one of our favorite Janet Jackson songs: "When I Think of You."

Starting off the song slow, Kelly ups the energy in this classic dance pop song, "Gotta Get Thru This."

Kelly kicked off Spring with another Florence + the Machine cover, belting out "Free."

We are loving this soulful cover of Jazmine Sullivan's Grammy-award-winning song.

Kelly and Shazam!'s Zachary Levi harmonized beautifully in this cover of 'Something Stupid' by Nancy and Frank Sinatra.

We love how effortless and natural Kelly sounds in her cover of Mark Morrison's "Return of the Mack."

Clarkson breathes new life into Death Cab for Cutie's "You Are a Tourist."

Kelly has the vocal power to make this Mazzy Star cover both dreamy and calming, yet powerful and commanding.

Kelly gave the Pixies a run for their money when she covered "Where Is My Mind?" in February.

Clarkson evoked her inner Stapleton when she covered this smooth cover of "Tennessee Whiskey."

Adele who? Clarkson blew her fellow powerhouse singer away in her rendition of this Adele classic.

These two powerhouse singers might be the most iconic pairing of all time! Kelly harmonizes beautifully with P!nk, allowing her to take the spotlight.

Her performance of Chris De Burgh's signature song from 1986 is simply beautiful.