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Kim and Kourtney Kardashian Reflect on Mom Kris Jenner and Dad Robert’s Divorce After Kris’ Affair
Kim and Kourtney Kardashian recently reflected on their parents’ divorce more than 30 years after mom Kris Jenner and dad Robert Kardashian Sr. called it quits for good following Kris’ affair with another man.
The sisters spoke about their parents in an interview with GQ published on Tuesday, November 14. They admitted that Kris, 68, and Robert, who died at 59 years old in 2003, tried to keep their marital trouble from their children leading up to their divorce. However, as the oldest child, Kourtney, 44, was immediately suspicious.
“Just being the oldest, I would overhear things,” the Poosh founder said. “I remember one night hearing them whisper-arguing. My parents never fought my whole life, so it was traumatizing when they did.”
On the other hand, Kim, 43, never heard her parents fight at all, so their split came as a shock to her. However, even she had a gut feeling the marriage was ending.
“I didn’t foresee any of it,” the KKW Beauty founder shared. “I was in the bath and they called a family meeting. I remember thinking, ‘Please, Lord, don’t let them be getting a divorce.’ I never had an inkling that it would happen, but I knew that was what they were going to tell us. I felt it.”
In addition to Kim and Kourtney, Kris and Robert shared daughter Khloé Kardashian and son Robert “Rob” Kardashian Jr.
Kris and Robert were married from July 1978 to March 1991. They met when Kris was 18 years old — Robert was 11 years her senior — and tied the knot when she was 22. However, the momager longed for independence in her 30s and told Robert she wanted to separate, as Kris revealed in her 2011 memoir, Kris Jenner… and All Things Kardashian. After only two days apart, Robert returned home and told Kris that he decided he didn’t “want a separation.”
Robert’s refusal to separate ultimately led Kris to begin her three-month-long affair with soccer player Todd Waterman in 1989. She described how it felt to kiss Todd in her book.
“That kiss was more than amazing; it was like a revival, a resuscitation, an awakening from some long, deep, unconscious sleep. I hadn’t been kissed like that in 10 years,” she wrote. “It made me feel young, attractive, sexy, and alive. Along with these feelings came a wave of nausea. I actually wanted to throw up at the same time. Because it dawned on me that I had not felt that way with Robert for years.”
After catching Kris with Todd a few times, Robert served Kris with divorce papers. One month after their divorce was finalized in 1991, Kris moved on with Caitlyn Jenner, who publicly came out as transgender in 2015. The two welcomed daughters Kendall Jenner and Kylie Jenner before their divorce in 2015. Meanwhile, Kris remained amicable coparents with Robert until his death, which came two months after his terminal esophageal cancer diagnosis.
In a recent episode of The Kardashians, Kris admitted to having regrets over cheating on Robert.
“He was such a great husband and such a great dad,” Kris told Khloé, 39. “I think that I fell into a situation where I thought that the grass was greener somewhere else, and I made a huge mistake. That’s my life’s biggest regret.”
Still, Kris said she was happy with how her life turned out after her divorce from Robert.
“Everything happens for a reason,” she said. “I really do live my life by thinking God has a plan, and without that whole thing happening, there never would’ve been Kendall and Kylie.”
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