Kelly Clarkson and Brandon Blackstock once seemed like they had the perfect marriage. Us Weekly first reported the two were an item in 2012. They made their public debut that May at a party in Tennessee, and by December, the two were engaged. Eager to announce the news herself, Clarkson tweeted at the time:

"I'M ENGAGED!!!!! I wanted y'all to know!! Happiest night of my life last night! I am so lucky and am with the greatest man ever."

Sadly, Clarkson and Blackstock have gone from an emotional beginning to an emotional ending. After seven years of marriage and the birth of their two children, 6-year-old River Rose and 4-year-old Remington Alexander, Clarkson and Blackstock have called it quits. Us Weekly confirmed Clarkson filed for divorce in June 2020, citing irreconcilable differences.

Many fans of the couple were surprised by the split. Clarkson's a pretty candid figure. While she was admitting to feeling the pains of quarantining on The Kelly Clarkson Show with her husband and small children at her Montana home, no one had any idea things had gotten so bad. In the months since, we've learned the truth about the marriage and why it didn't work.

After having her two kids, Clarkson claimed she was done during an interview on The Elvis Duran Show. She said,

"I'm so glad I never have to be pregnant again. Jeez, I'm glad my tubes are gone."

Over the years, Clarkson's opinion changed, however. In May, when Gordon Ramsay appeared on her show with his 14-month-old son, she admitted she wanted more babies.

The four children she refers to include Blackstock's children from a previous marriage, Savannah and Seth. As a source shared with Entertainment Tonight, the difference of opinion became one of the factors for their split. The insider claimed,

"Kelly has always brought up wanting more children, which Brandon doesn't."

From the sounds of it, it seems like Clarkson was doing the bulk of taking care of the four kids. She joked about it in an April 2020 virtual appearance on TODAY With Hoda And Jenna, saying,

"Nine times out of 10 my kids are losing it 'cause they have to do school. [...] I'm cooking all the time and cleaning all the time while doing work for several things. It's the most insane thing ever, honestly. And I drink a bit of wine, but we're hanging in there, so it's good."

But that wasn't all. Clarkson and Blackstock were already spending a lot of time together before COVID-19 hit the United States. He worked as her manager and as the executive producer on The Kelly Clarkson Show. When COVID had the entire family quarantining together at their Montana home, the fault lines began to show themselves. A source told Us Weekly,

"They clashed on so many levels, and being in quarantine together heightened their problems to the point of no return. Everyone thought Kelly and Brandon had the perfect marriage, but they definitely didn't."

Music has helped Clarkson through this period — particularly Garth Brooks' song "The Dance." In a conversation with Brooks on an episode of her talk show, she admitted that the song even inspired her to write about her divorce on her upcoming ninth studio album.

Dealing with the details of the divorce has also been stressful for Clarkson.

The amount of legal back and forth that's gone public hints that there were more issues between Clarkson and Blackstock than anyone thought. A source revealed to People that Blackstock wanted the children to go "back and forth" from Los Angeles to Montana, despite them always having lived in L.A. In the end, a judge awarded Clarkson primary physical custody, with joint legal custody.

On her show, Clarkson made it clear that she's not just worried about her own pain, but that of her kids. She explained,

"What I'm dealing with is hard because it involves more than just my heart. It involves a lot of little hearts. We're both from divorced families, so we know the best thing here is to protect our children and their little hearts."

#KellyClarkson #BrandonBlackstock