Who is Brian McKnight married to now? R&B singer's relationships explored as he opens up about contentious relationship with ex-wife

Brian McKnight, the '90s R&B icon, has now shed some more light on his personal life, especially his strained relationship with his estranged older children.

During his appearance on the Anton Daniels podcast, McKnight explained the dubious circumstances of his first marriage with singer-songwriter Julie McKnight and the 'apparent' reason for its 'breakdown.'

McKnight revealed:

“I honored my mother and I tried to do the right thing with a woman that I hadn’t even known a year yet. We got married in September. Baby in November.”

He continued dissecting his first marriage:

“I was never in love with their mother. They weren’t made from love to begin with. The kids were the thing that kept us together as long as we were.”

According to McKnight, the couple separated four times before divorcing in 2003. The podcast is available to stream on YouTube:

Interestingly, McKnight's eldest son, Brian McKnight Jr., had publicly shamed his father for 'emotional distance' earlier this year. The R&B singer has been married to Leilani Malia Mendoza, a pediatric neurophysiologist, since 2017.

Brian McKnight's Relationships

In the interview, McKnight said his relationship with his children deteriorated due to what he described as 'outside influence'. He recalled that during their early separations, his younger son refused to spend time with him, something he believed stemmed from emotional interference at home.

Circling back to the topic of his first wife, he admitted that his children were 'poisoned' against him,

“He didn’t know me… he’d cry for however long.”

Detailing the structure of his divorce, he revealed,

“It is $8,000 for spousal support, and then five and five for the two kids.”

The singer has had a publicly tumultuous relationship with his children and first wife. McKnight married his current wife, Leilani Malia Mendoza, in 2017 and shares a son with her. Surprisingly, he considers her two children as his children and has ceremoniously disowned his own biological children from his first marriage.

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Brian McKnight dated Leilani Malia Mendoza before tying the knot.

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