The Voice coach Kelly Clarkson has been awarded primary custody of her children amid her divorce from longtime husband Brandon Blackstock, who happens to be Kelly's and Blake Shelton's manager in music. The live shows of The Voice season 19 are scheduled to start today, Monday, November 30. As she has done over the past few years, Kelly Clarkson is slated to be seated on her red chair, just like her fellow coaches Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, and John Legend. But the truth is that, behind the scenes, Kelly has been dealing with a divorce throughout this entire season of the show.
Kelly Clarkson and Brandon Blackstock got married in October of 2013, which is when he also became her manager in music. Brandon was already a talent manager when he first met Kelly. In fact, Brandon was largely credited for how well he managed Blake Shelton - turning the aspiring country singer into a global superstar. For seven years, Kelly and Brandon had what appeared to be a happy marriage and a good work relationship. They had two children together - River Rose and Remington Alexander -, but Kelly was also a stepmother to Brandon's two kids from a former marriage.
Now, it seems like the situation has escalated between The Voice star Kelly Clarkson and her longtime husband and manager. On Monday, November 30, Us Weekly reported that Kelly was given primary custody of her two children with Brandon. The publication cited "trust issues" as the biggest reason behind Kelly's decision. As explained by US Legal, "The primary residential parent generally has final decision-making authority in day-to-day care and control of each child." In any case, the report also indicated that Kelly and Brandon will share joint physical and legal custody of the kids. But Kelly will stay living in California, and Brandon is reportedly planning to move to Montana. For the holidays in 2020, it seems like Brandon will be the parent who'll have the children from December 19th through the 25th.
The timing of this court decision must be very awkward for Kelly Clarkson, given that the live shows of The Voice season 19 are also starting this Monday, November 30. On the show, she'll likely try to pretend like nothing else is happening behind the scenes. Furthermore, she will appear as a coach alongside Blake Shelton, who also has a long professional relationship and friendship with Brandon. It is also unfortunate for him that he'll be caught up in the middle of these two friends fighting in court. Blake has been through a divorce before (from Miranda Lambert), but he's currently in a happier place as he just got engaged to Gwen Stefani earlier in 2020.
The fans will keep an eye out for how Kelly Clarkson and Blake Shelton will act on this week's episodes of The Voice. These new episodes are all live shows, after all, and anything can happen on live TV.
The Voice season 19 airs Mondays & Tuesdays at 8 pm ET/PT on NBC.