Kelly Clarkson opened up about the challenges that her and Brandon Blackstock‘s 8-year-old daughter, River, is currently facing at school.
“I was driving my daughter to school yesterday, and she’s dyslexic,” Clarkson, 40, told guest Henry Winkler on the Tuesday, April 18, date episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show. “And you have told me that you’re dyslexic as well. I find that amazing, to tell my daughter that you’ve written, like, 40 books and you’re dyslexic.”
The talk show host, who also shares son Remi, 6, with Blackstock, 46, noted that her daughter was “getting bullied” for “not being able to read” at the same speed as her classmates. In response, Winkler, 77, pointed out that 1 in 5 children have the learning disability.
“She’s part of the tribe!” the Barry actor added before sharing a message directly to Clarkson’s daughter. “River! How you learn has nothing to do with how brilliant you are.”
The American Idol alum, for her part, got emotional after admitting she “didn’t know how common” it was for a child to have dyslexia.
Clarkson became a mother two years after she married Blackstock in 2013. The couple expanded their family again in 2016 before calling it quits after nearly seven years of marriage. The talent manager, for his part, also shares children Savannah, 20, and Seth, 16, with ex-wife Melissa Ashworth.
Following her split from Blackstock, the songwriter candidly discussed the ups and downs of being a single mom.
“I’m either at work or with kids,” Clarkson told Extra in May 2022 about celebrating Mother’s Day two months after finalizing her divorce. “So, my nanny — I literally almost cried — like, she walked into the kitchen and was like, ‘Hey, for Mother’s Day, I’m going to give you the gift of time and you can just do whatever you want.’ I almost broke down, I was like, ‘What??!!’ I had the best day, and it was amazing.”
Clarkson also revealed how she and Blackstock have prioritized coparenting their children. In August 2022, the “Stronger” performer recalled going on a trip with her ex-husband and their kids for the summer.
“It’s obviously been a rough couple years so it was really important to me to, like, shut down for a minute,” she said on Today. “The kids were with me and with their dad. It was nice because they usually have to travel a lot because of our separation so we were both in Montana so, it was the first time I think my kids felt more centered as well.”
More recently, Clarkson gave a glimpse at their divorce drama in new songs from her upcoming album, Chemistry.
“I don’t need somebody to hold me / Don’t need somebody to love me / Don’t need somebody to pick these pieces up / I put together my broken / Let go of the pain I’ve been holdin’ / Don’t need to need somebody / When I got me,” she sang on the “Me” track earlier this month.
