Kelly Clarkson has opened up about feeling “lonely” while living in Los Angeles following her divorce from ex-husband Brandon Blackstock in 2020.
The “Breakaway” singer, 41, is preparing to move her popular talk show to New York City. She said that she “never wanted to live” in Los Angeles “in the first place” because her family and friends live on the East Coast.
Appearing on the Today show on Thursday (22 June), Clarkson was asked why she is moving to New York.
“I think Covid pointed out a lot of things. A lot of us didn’t make it relationship-wise,” she said, referring to her divorce after nearly seven years of marriage.
“Also it just proved I’ve never really liked living in LA… I never wanted to live there in the first place. It was just me and my kids all the way on that coast. All my family lives on this coast. So it just got lonely.”
Clarkson also spoke about how she had to get “honest” with herself about feeling isolated.
“I’m lonely there. Not as in, ‘I need a boyfriend’ kind of thing. Lonely as in, you miss your family, you miss just having any family, or that kind of relationship,” she said.
The Voice judge previously revealed that her divorce was the “hardest thing to navigate” in her life. She cited irreconcilable differences when she filed for divorce on 4 June 2020.
Clarkson and Blackstock share two children, River Rose, nine, and Remington Alexander, six.
Speaking to Today hosts Carson Daly and Hoda Kotb, Clarkson said that New York’s pedestrian-friendly streets – as well as Blackstock’s dislike of the city – was what convinced her to make the move.
“We go nowhere in LA. I cam here and this is what won me over,” she said. “I came here and I was like, ‘Why have I never lived here?’
“I know why. My ex does not like living in a city like this. But I just never had done it and I literally called one of the [network] heads and was like, ‘Listen, my life has been a dumpster fire and I’m really unhappy in LA and I don’t know if I’ll continue in LA. What are our thoughts about possibly moving this to New York?”
Clarkson has hosted The Kelly Clarkson Show since September 2019. The talk show sees her interviewing celebrities and presenting segments about “everyday people”, as well as performing cover versions of songs requested by members of the audience.
Earlier this month, the singer said that her “ego” kept her in her marriage to Blackstock. She told Glennon Doyle in an appearance on her podcast: “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.”
Clarkson and Blackstock first met in 2006 and were married in 2013. Their divorce was reportedly finalised earlier this year, after Clarkson agreed to pay a one-time payment of US$1.3m to Blackstock as well as monthly child support payments of US$45,601.
