Kelly Clarkson called leaving her talk show to care for her two kids an “easy decision” on a recent appearance on the Today show.The “Stronger” singer shared her children with her late ex-husband Brandon Blackstock.Blackstock passed away last August after a private battle with cancer. He was 48.

Kelly Clarkson is opening up about her surprise decision to end her eponymous talk show in the wake of her ex-husband Brandon Blackstock’s tragic death last August from cancer. The mom-of-two, who announced the end of The Kelly Clarkson Show on Monday, February 2, told the hosts of Today that it was an “easy decision as a mama” to temporarily step back from the spotlight.

“Our family life, the dynamic changed a bit, and it has changed for a minute now,” Clarkson explained. “We’ve all got kids, right? And it’s one of those things when you kind of start seeing life is, how precious it is.”

Kelly Clarkson’s kids River and Remy on ‘The Kelly Clarkson Show’ in 2024.

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She went on, “I know everybody thinks, ‘Oh, she’s quitting,’ but I still have other jobs. There’s just too much on the plate. It wasn’t [that] the show isn’t doing well. That’s what kind of sucked.”

“The crew’s been incredible…That was a really hard thing for me, but an easy decision as a mama,” the Breakaway singer concluded.

Clarkson shared her daughter River and her son Remy with her ex Blackstock, whom she divorced back in 2020. The former talent manager died at the age of 48 in August 2025 following a private three-year battle with cancer.

Brandon Blackstock and Kelly Clarkson at the 2013 Grammy Awards.

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This isn’t the first time that Clarkson has mentioned her children in the wake of the end of The Kelly Clarkson Show, of course. In an Instagram post published shortly after the official announcement, for example, the American Idol alum again cited “prioritizing [her] kids” as one of her main reasons for stepping down.

Brandon Blackstock and Kelly Clarkson with their kids River and Remy at the premiere of ‘UglyDolls’ in 2019.

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“Kelly didn’t realize how all-consuming the show would be,” a source recently told US Weekly. “It’s her entire life. The talk show became more than she initially bargained for, and left her with little time to pursue anything else.”