Kelly Clarkson Opens Up About Former Stepmother-in-Law Reba McEntire: We’re ‘Both Women of Sound Mind’

During a Tuesday appearance on ‘Watch What Happens Live,’ the Grammy winner said her divorce has not affected her relationship with the country megastar

Reba McEntire and Kelly Clarkson. Photo:Adam Christopher /NBCUniversal/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images

Kelly Clarkson says she still has a positive relationship with Reba McEntire, despite her divorce from the country megastar’s former stepson, Brandon Blackstock.

During a Tuesday appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen to promote her new album, Chemistry, host Andy Cohen asked Clarkson, 41, if she and McEntire’s relationship has been affected.

“Not at all. We were friends before Brandon and I got together,” Clarkson said of the fellow Grammy winner, 68.

“We text each other all the time,” she added, noting that they were “both women of sound mind that know that life doesn’t work out sometimes.”

Clarkson and Blackstock, 46, who share daughter River Rose, 9, and son Remington Alexander, 7, split in June 2020 after nearly seven years of marriage. The divorce was finalized in March 2022.

“Well she would know best, it was literally the same thing,” the Kelly Clarkson Show host lightheartedly said of the women’s similar experience with painful divorces.

Kelly Clarkson appears on Watch What Happens Live on June 27, 2023.

McEntire was previously married to Narvel Blackstock — Blackstock’s father — from 1989 to 2015, and prior to that, Charlie Battles from 1976 to 1987.

“So yeah, no hard feelings there. Just feelings!” Clarkson quipped. “We’ve even worked together since then — on The Voice as well.”

During an interview with Extra in 2021, McEntire was asked whether she had been able to help Clarkson post-split.

In her response, the “I’m a Survivor” singer supported both Clarkson and Blackstock.

“You know, I love them both, Brandon’s my stepson, Kelly’s my good friend and I’m pulling for both of them,” McEntire said at the time. “I hope they’re happy and healthy and pull through this.”

She continued: “I pray that everybody gives them the encouragement that they can because they need it right now, both of them. I love them both with all my heart.”

Andy Cohen and Kelly Clarkson on Watch What Happens Live.

In 2018, at a Kennedy Center ceremony where McEntire was being honored, Clarkson paid tribute to her with a powerful cover of McEntire’s 1990 hit “Fancy.”

Before belting out the country classic, Clarkson held back tears as she spoke of McEntire.

“I’ve been a fan of Reba since I was a little girl. Her voice has always felt nostalgic for me. Even as an adult, there’s something about her tone and her storytelling that just feels like home,” Clarkson said.

“Sometimes when we meet our heroes, it doesn’t always pan out how you hope. But meeting Reba — being friends with her, and eventually becoming family — has been one of the highlights of my life, truly,” the “Stronger” singer added. “So thank you so much for listening to me vent as an artist. Thank you so much for comforting me on the phone through my tears, like a friend. And thank you for being a really rad grandma for my kids.”