Donna Kelce has admitted her and ex-husband Ed only stayed together for so long ‘for the kids’ after opening up on their ill-fated marriage.
Donna and Ed, the parents of famous NFL brothers Travis and Jason Kelce, separated a number of years ago but remain on good terms today as they continue to attend their youngest son’s games for the Kansas City Chiefs together.
The writing appeared to be on the wall for the couple when their sons were very young, with Travis saying on Amazon Prime’s ‘Kelce’ documentary in 2023: ‘I knew my mom and dad’s situation was different than other parents. 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.’
Now Donna has lifted the lid on what went wrong in her marriage to Ed, describing herself as ‘standing still’ in the relationship before they eventually parted ways.
‘My husband and I knew that our marriage was not working, but we stayed together for the kids,’ the 71-year-old told Glamour after gracing the cover for its 2024 Woman of the Year: The Moms issue.
‘Ours was a very friendly relationship. So, we could do that and make sure that their life was normal as possible. But in that one respect, I did stand still for several years until I could move on on my own.’
She added: ‘I was a commercial banker for a bank in several different states. I wanted to get ahead. I worked really, really hard. I was a major breadwinner in the family.
‘And I think it’s important for kids to see that a woman can do whatever she wants, but I did stand still, too.’
It is unclear when exactly Donna and Ed split, but the pair stayed together as their children attempted to carve out professional careers in football.
In the ‘Kelce’ documentary last year, Ed said: ‘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.’
Donna described trying to ‘keep it all together’ while juggling their marriage and being a parent as ‘tough’.
‘It’s so much easier to just go to work,’ she continued. ‘But raising children, when they’re totally dependent on you and you’re trying to do the best you can with the limited resources that you have, it’s the most daunting task I’ve ever had to do.’
