R Kelly's ex-wife: You never knew which version you would get - it's like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

'It's called walking on eggshells...when you never know what you’re going to get'

R Kelly's ex-wife spoke of the singer's Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde personality and "never knowing which version of him you're going to get" after he was found guilty of sex trafficking offences.

Drea Kelly was speaking on Good Morning Britain after her ex-husband was found guilty of racketeering and eight charges of trafficking women, girls and boys across state lines for prostitution for more than two decades.

She spoke of a life of "constant fear" and "intimidation" with R Kelly where she had "to walk on eggshells".

"Like I said in the interview before, having the milk too cold and the one time it's not cold enough," Drea said.

She added: “If you spoke and you weren’t supposed to. I can only talk about my journey and what I went through, what I’ve heard speaks very true to my life - it is parallel to my life and there is no way for anybody else to know it, because I haven't shared it with anyone unless they’ve been through it themselves.

"It’s constant fear, the imitation, never knowing which version of him you’re going to get, it's very much Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde."

Drea was married to the disgraced Grammy Award winner for 13 years, and praised the strength of the survivors for telling their stories and for coming forward, but she also spoke of "sitting in a very difficult place", as she shares children with him.

She told GMB: “I wear two hats - I wear the hat of a survivor and advocate, but I also wear the hat of a mother and an ex wife, so it's very difficult for me. I feel that my heart is in two places.

"My heart definitely goes out to the survivors and the courage that it takes to to come forward and tell the story, but my heart breaks as a mother because this is now the legacy that my children will have to deal with and their children’s children.

"At the end of the day, you cannot walk away from your blood line.

"I have the ability to separate and distance myself from it, but his blood runs through my children’s veins and it's part of their DNA and they couldn’t escape it even if they wanted to. So it's very difficult for me to sit in that position.”  

During the trial, prosecutors argued that Kelly’s managers, bodyguards and other employees allegedly helped him meet women, girls and boys for sexual exploitation - amounting to a criminal enterprise to groom them.

"Of all the predators that I have pursued, however, Mr Kelly is the worst," Gloria Allred, lawyer for some of the women welcomed the convictions

Several accusers alleged during the trial that Kelly subjected them to perverse and sadistic whims when they were underage.

Asked if she was surprised that it has taken this long to get a conviction, Drea said: “It's really sad as a human race we really need to look at women in general. I have often said if any of his victims were blonde-haired and blue-eyed it wouldn’t have taken this long.

"Women of colour tend to be lowest on the totem pole when it comes to domestic violence and sexual abuse, so it’s really sad that it took this long, but I guess we are making some moves forward.”

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