It appears that Kelly Clarkson is struggling right now in the wake of filing for divorce from her husband Brandon Blackstock, who she was married to for nearly seven years, as she just broke down in tears on her talk show.

The Sun reported that Clarkson had to pause and collect herself for a moment after the topic of fatherhood came up during an interview with a young protester. She was interviewing Samantha Francine, a young protester who went viral when a photo made the rounds of her standing up to an angry critic, and she explained that she was inspired to do so by her father.

“One of the things he always used to tell us as kids is no matter who or what it is, make sure that they look you in the eye so they have to acknowledge you’re human,” Francine said. “And he passed away 16 years ago today this month so it made the moment really powerful.”

“That is the most powerful thing he taught you,” a visibly touched Clarkson replied. “What an amazing father to teach you so much with one sentence.”

“That’s an amazing thing to make sure someone looks you in the eye and knows…” she added as she broke down in tears. Clarkson then had to stop, holding up her hand as the tears began to flow. She was finally able to collect herself a moment later and continue the interview, but she had a noticeably shaky voice for the rest of it.

Clarkson has been open about the troubled relationship she had with her estranged father Stephen, who died last year. She went deeper into it when she wrote the 2015 emotional hit, Piece by Piece.

“From the moment I wrote it, just being pregnant with my little girl and then you know all the moments that I really did try and make it work with my father and life and just get completely let down to where,” she said of the song. “You know he passed away months ago. So that’s that’s why.”

Clarkson’s fans were shocked when she filed for divorce from Blackstock on June 4, but her friends have since said that it was a long time coming.

“Kelly and Brandon had been having problems for several months and had been making an effort to work things out,” a source close to Clarkson told Entertainment Tonight. “They both hoped quarantining away from LA in Montana would help them work things out in their marriage, but instead the change in environment was actually detrimental.

“The constant time together seemed to make an already challenging situation worse,” the insider added.