Kelly Clarkson admitted to some tensions while co-parenting with her ex-husband Brandon Blackstock during an episode of Kylie Kelce’s Not Gonna Lie podcast that aired on Thursday (March 27).
In the episode, Clarkson and Kelce talk about the double standard that exists with working parents, where dads have more freedom than moms do to work without guilt or judgment.
Clarkson and Blackstock share two children: Ten-year-old daughter River and 8-year-old son Remington. The couple divorced in 2020.
“There’s a lot that I keep in because … co-parenting is fun,” the singer admits in a tongue-in-cheek way.
During her conversation with Kelce — who’s also a mom, and currently pregnant with her fourth daughter — Clarkson opens up about the stress and mom guilt that comes with missing school events that are held on weekdays during work hours, often without enough notice for her to take time off for them.
Read More: Kelly Clarkson Absent From Her Talk Show Due to ‘Family Emergency’
Her tone is comedic, but Clarkson’s gripes with the school system are a stressor that plenty of other working parents have to deal with. And as she points out, moms are more commonly judged for missing parenting moments due to work than dads are.
“It’s like, ‘Oh, he couldn’t come because of this,’ and I’m just like, ‘Okay, cool.’ Do you think I just leave and just sit in the park all day?” Clarkson continues.
Since their divorce, Clarkson hasn’t spoken all that much about her co-parenting relationship with Blackstock. She has said that her move to New York was in part inspired by her divorce, explaining that she and her kids needed “a fresh start.”
Most recently, Clarkson was away from her talk show The Kelly Clarkson Show for several weeks this month, with no explanation for her absence.
She hasn’t publicly shared a reason yet, though an unnamed source told Entertainment Tonight that a “family emergency” was the reason for her time away from the set.
Clarkson has since returned to her hosting gig.
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