Kelly Clarkson smiles through the pain as she belts out Christmas carols at tree lighting as 'horrible' divorce rages on

KELLY Clarkson belted out a series of carols at NBC's 88th Christmas In Rockefeller Center special.

The singer, 38 – who is in the midst of a "horrible" divorce from Brandon Blackstock – sang Under The Mistletoe with Brett Eldredge at the event.

Kelly stunned in a checked gown with a draped skirt, which she teamed with red lipstick and drop earrings.

The Since U Been Gone smiled through her heartache during the animated performance with singer Brett.

The hitmaker has suffered a turbulent few months, as she struggles with a public divorce from music manager Brandon.

She has won primary physical custody of their two kids – River, six, and Remy, four – but is still fighting with her estranged husband over money.

Kelly admitted she's finding the process "horrible" in chat with author Glennon Doyle on The Kelly Clarkson Show.

Kelly said: “You write about the public fallout from your divorce. I’m obviously going through one right now, it’s horrible!”

The Voice coach, who filed for divorce in June after seven years of marriage, revealed there have been “so many hard parts” of the process over the last few months. 

She continued: “The hardest for me is the kids, that’s the hardest for me. I always, as women especially, I think we’re trained, Alicia [Keys] and I were talking earlier, to take it all on.

"And you can deal with it and you’re fine, but it’s your babies that you worry about.”

The mother-of-two has been awarded primary custody of their kids after the exes had a “difficult time co-parenting due to issues of trust between them,” according to a court document.

A Los Angeles County judge rule in the singer’s favor in the “interest in providing stability and continuity” for the children.

The divorce battle continues, though, as Brandon has “demanded $5.2M a year in spousal support” from Kelly, a request she’s calling “unreasonable.”

A source close to the former couple told PEOPLE that he is seeking $436,000 in monthly spousal and child support.

The source said: "Brandon's been equally unreasonable in his requests for child and spousal support, as well as attorney fees.

"Kelly's offered to pay for all the kids' expenses, but Brandon seems to think he is entitled to and needs $301K in spousal support and $135K in child support per month."

With the back-and-forth ongoing, the exes have been ordered to not speak “in a derogatory manner” about each other in front of their two children.

Court papers reveal that the parents also "shall not allow the minor children to be in the presence of any third party who speaks about the other parent in a derogatory manner.”

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