How Kris Jenner’s Robert Kardashian Split Allowed Her to ‘Grow Up’
It is well known by many fans that Kris Jenner’s husband before she married Caitlyn Jenner was attorney Robert Kardashian. Her four oldest children were also born from her relationship with Kardashian.
Jenner and Kardashian officially split in 1991. While divorces are never fun for anyone, looking back, Jenner realized that there was something positive that came out of her breakup: It allowed her to really grow up. Read on below to find out why Jenner said this.
Kris Jenner and Robert Kardashian were married for over 10 years
Jenner was 17 years old when she first met Kardashian, who was 11 older than her. The two came upon each other at a racetrack in California, though Jenner was dating someone else at the time. She ended up cheating on her then-boyfriend with Kardashian.
In any case, Jenner and Kardashian started a relationship together. They ended up getting married in 1978. Throughout their marriage, they welcomed four children: Kourtney (b. 1979), Kim (b. 1980), Khloe (b. 1984), and Rob (b. 1987).
Jenner and Kardashian ended their marriage after Kardashian found out that Jenner was cheating on him with soccer player Todd Waterman. Jenner later would go on to call the affair “one of my biggest regrets in my life,” but the damage was done. Jenner and Kardashian separated in the late 1980s, and their divorce was finalized in 1991.
Kris Jenner said the divorce allowed her to ‘grow up’
In an interview on Diane Von Furstenberg’s podcast, “InCharge with DVF,” Jenner shared that she was initially very scared when her relationship with Kardashian fell apart.
“I got married when I was very, very young,” Jenner said. “I met Robert when I was 18 years old. We dated for four years, got married at 22. Sooner or later during my life when I was in my 30s,.. I didn’t know what to do [after we broke up]. I had four kids, I was single. I didn’t know where I was going to live. I didn’t know how I was going to make a living. It was the scariest time to be that young. I think I was 32 years old, and I had four little children. My son was maybe a year old and it was scary.”
Jenner found some solace in her faith and prayed to God to give her the strength to keep going. She shared: “I remember picking myself up by my bootstraps one day. I have deep faith in God and I just started praying that God would strengthen me, give me that power, give me the ability to be in charge of my own life. It was my turn to really grow up.”
How Kris Jenner and Robert Kardashian’s divorce affected their kids
In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2012, Jenner’s two oldest kids, Kourtney and Kim, revealed that they were quite aware of the divorce. They also knew their mother had an affair.
According to Kim, it made them protective of their father because they knew that he did not want the divorce to happen. However, Kim shared that she also understood her mom’s actions because, saying: “Not that I think that [the affair] was okay, but I’ve been in really unhappy situations where I feel like I want to get out and I can’t breathe.”
Meanwhile, Kourtney admitted that watching their parents go through a divorce made her hesitant about getting married. Fans might remember that she was in a relationship with her now-ex-boyfriend Scott Disick for almost 10 years. The couple had three children together but never tied the knot.
On the bright side, Kourtney also shared that her parents’ friendly relationship after their divorce inspired her to learn how to co-parent with Disick after they broke up.
