Kelly Clarkson opens up about divorce from Brandon Blackstock; she 'didn't see' it coming

A lot has changed in Kelly Clarkson's life since she last appeared in her talk show "The Kelly Clarkson Show" around six months ago. While launching the second season of her award-winning show this week, the singer opened up about her "dumpster fire" of a year, particularly because of her divorce with Brandon Blackstock.

Kelly Clarkson kicked off the season two of her talk show, which won her an Emmy, by singing a feel-good medley of sitcom theme songs alongside "Full House" alum Bob Saget on Monday. In her opening monologue during the premiere of the show, the "Since U Been Gone" singer spoke candidly about how 2020 has been a difficult year.

"Let's just get this out of the way. 2020 has been a dumpster fire. Yup just all the words that I can't say on this show just piled together and it's on fire. That's really what it's felt like," the 38-year-old said.

The "Voice" judge then addressed the elephant in the room -- her split with Brandon Blackstock, her husband of seven years, and said that she "didn't see" it coming. "2020 has brought a lot of change also to my personal life. Definitely didn't see anything coming that came," she told her virtual audience.

Clarkson, who was introduced to Blackstock by his father Narvel Blackstock who used to be her manager, filed for divorce in June citing "irreconcilable differences." She is asking for joint custody of their two children- daughter River, five, and son Remington, four.

The former couple started dating in 2012, became engaged after a whirlwind romance in December that year, and got married in October 2013. They welcomed their first child the next year and second in 2016. After their marriage, Clarkson also became a stepmother to Seth and Savannah, Blackstone's children with Melissa Ashworth.

Opening up about the unexpected divorce, the singer said: "What I'm dealing with is hard because it involves more than just my heart. It involves a lot of little hearts. We have four kids. Divorce is never easy. We're both from divorced families so we know the best thing is to protect our children and their little hearts."

The Grammy-winner also noted that while she is "usually very open" with her viewers and "talks about everything," she will be a bit careful this time and will instead "talk a little bit here and there about how it affects me personally."

"But I probably won't go too far into it, because I'm a mama bear and my kids come first. Although, I do love you all. But I am okay. Everybody keeps asking and I am. The answer is 'yes,'" she said.