Donna Kelce explained that she and her ex-husband Ed Kelce had a plan in place when they would ultimately divorce after 25 years of marriage.
The proud mom, whose sons are NFL champs Jason Kelce and Travis Kelce, opened up about how they stayed together for the sake of their family in the latest installment of “The Martha Stewart Podcast.”
“It was after the kids were out of college” Donna said of when she and Ed divorced. “We worked together as a team and it’s very, very difficult to raise children on your own.
“And with as active as they were, how do you do that on your own? So we decided that we would be married throughout the entire time that the kids were in the house, and that’s the way it worked out.”
Stewart, 82, praised Donna for the decision she and Ed made, calling it “smart” and saying they were “lucky” to be in that position — to which Donna agreed.
It’s unclear exactly when the couple parted ways.
Travis and Jason discussed their childhood and their parents’ relationship in the sports documentary, “Kelce,” which released on Prime Video in 2023.
“I knew my mom and dad’s situation was different than other parents,” Travis said in the documentary. “I would go and have sleepovers at other houses and the other parents are staying in the same room, and my parents didn’t stay in the same room.
“I started making those connections when I was in middle school and I realized that they were probably gonna split — but they stayed together for me and Jason’s benefit, I believe.”
Ed explained in the documentary that he and Donna made sacrifices to make sure their sons found their passion and followed it.
“If we had split as we probably both would have preferred, that would have been a nightmare with the logistics, getting kids where they had to be and providing all the support,” Ed said.
Donna recalled that time as being “tough” while juggling parenting.
“Just trying to keep it all together when you’re being a parent,” she said. “It’s tough.”
Donna previously explained during an episode of her sons’ “New Heights” podcast that she and Ed met by chance at a Cleveland bar when she was actually going to meet another guy for a drink.
The pair “talked forever,” Donna said, and she never went to meet the other man.
Donna and Ed are regulars at their sons’ games and events, and most recently attended the first-ever live show of the “New Heights” podcast, which took place in their native Cincinnati last month.
