Kelly Clarkson Wants to Become Legally Single Amid Divorce From Brandon Blackstock

Ready to move on? Kelly Clarkson is asking a judge to declare her legally single amid her ongoing divorce from estranged husband Brandon Blackstock.

Kelly, 39, and her attorney, Laura Wasser, filed a motion on July 2 for a separate trial to terminate her marital status, according to court records. This means the  “Since U Been Gone” singer wants to legally become as a single woman as soon as possible.

Kelly’s attorneys wrote in her filed request that the singer “has made good faith efforts to settle” after she filed for divorce in June 2020, but Brandon and his attorneys “have no intention of reaching a global settlement of this matter anytime soon.” In her own declaration, Kelly said that she and Brandon “both deserve the opportunity to build a new life,” which she said is the reason why she is “asking that my request to bifurcate and terminate marital status be granted.”

The American Idol alum filed for divorce from Brandon, 44, last June in Los Angeles, California, In Touch confirmed at the time. Kelly cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for her split from the music producer.

The couple met at the ACM Awards in 2006, started dating in 2012 and tied the knot in October 2013. They welcomed two children together, daughter River and son Remington. Kelly was also a stepmother to Brandon’s two kids from his first marriage, daughter Savannah and son Seth.

Kelly and Brandon’s marriage seemed to have issues, but the cracks in their relationship started to show through as they self-quarantined with their family amid the coronavirus pandemic in spring 2020. The “Because Of You” singer “hated having to self-isolate” with Brandon, an insider exclusively told In Touch shortly after their breakup. “They haven’t been getting along for a while and clashed on so many levels.”

In September, the Kelly Clarkson Show host revealed why she won’t share details publicly about her split from Brandon. “I am a very open person, but I’m not going to be able to be truly open about [my divorce] in certain aspects because there’s kids involved,” she told the Los Angeles Times at the time. “I think that I will navigate a way in which to be open and honest about it eventually, probably via the show, and it’ll probably, I’m assuming, happen organically when someone says something in conversation or something. It definitely wouldn’t be planned.”

While she won’t divulge the personal details about what went wrong, the Trolls World Tour voice actress admitted her life “has been a little bit of a dumpster” during an interview on the Sunday Today show that month.

“Personally, it’s been a little hard,” she revealed. “So the last couple [of] months, I’ve been talking to friends who have been through [a] divorce. I don’t know how people go through that without having some kind of outlet. Because it is the worst thing ever, for everyone involved.”

In November 2020, the exes came to an agreement on the custody arrangement for their children. Kelly was granted primary physical custody of River, 7, and Remington, 5.