Kelly Clarkson has revealed the reason she legally filed to change her name - and, as you can imagine, it's everything to do with her now-finalized divorce.
During the divorce proceedings between herself and her ex-husband, Brandon Blackstock, she requested to have the name she used during her marriage, Kelly Blackstock, changed back to Kelly Clarkson.
In February, the American Idol season one winner later petitioned the court to change her legal last name to just her first name and middle name: Kelly Brianne. Fans need not worry, though, as she is not expecting the public to start calling her that.
"I just got divorced, so I had to drop my married last name," she told People (the TV Show!) at the premiere of American Song Contest on Monday. I just kept my middle name for my personal life. I’m still Kelly Clarkson."
The 39-year-old then joked: "I don’t think I can change Clarkson at this point. I’m 20 years in!"
Clarkson explained in court documents at the time that the new name "more fully reflects who I am". A court hearing regarding her petition is slated for March 28.
"Clarkson" was the last name of her late father, with whom she was estranged. Her mother and father divorced when she was six years old and she was raised by her mother, who remarried. Her father died in 2o18.
The 'Because Of You' singer has previously spoken about her father on The Kelly Clarkson Show, referring to him as "toxic". She recalled trying to reach out to him, saying that the effort was never reciprocated.
"You're like, I shouldn't have to work this hard for someone's love. Like, that's a little ridiculous," she said on the show, per Country Living. "And at that point, too, you grow up so much to where you go, okay, I don't even think you're capable [of love]."
"I know a lot of people go, 'Aww,' but it's not really that situation," she went on to say. "I think if you don't grow up with it, it's hard to miss something you never had."
