Kevin Federline and his two sons with Britney grace the cover of the upcoming issue of People Magazine. People has a preview on their website and in the accompanying article Federline talks about how he coped with Britney’s breakdown and calls his sons more important than anything. He also claims that Britney blindsided him by divorcing him without warning, which contradicts Britney’s recent statements that Kevin left her, not the other way around. I would tend to believe his side of the story because there’s video of him looking shocked while receiving a text message the day before Britney filed divorce papers.

Do you remember when you first met Britney?
I met her at a club in Hollywood, Joseph’s. Our eyes met and that was it. We just hit it off right away. I learned real fast how much of a whirlwind the press and everything was.

What are your happiest memories of the marriage?
Well, getting married. I never thought that I would get married but it wound up happening. That was a really, really, happy, exciting moment. I pretty much realized that I was giving my life to her, and I was doing it without question.

What went wrong?
It’s hard enough to be in a marriage, and then have a kid, then kids, it changes everything. For me, I’d become more concerned with my children. Not that I ignored Britney, but my kids are always most important … I mean, we were having complications. I didn’t give her an ultimatum, but I was trying to work stuff out with her, and she didn’t even talk to me or anything and went behind my back and filed [for divorce]. [I was] completely blindsided.

A lot of people assumed you fought for custody of the kids because of money.
My first question to [my lawyer] was, “Am I ever going to be able to see my children?” I told him that I would spend every last dime that I had to make sure that my children are okay. That’s all that mattered. I didn’t know how much power Britney had. That really scared me.

How did you react in January when Britney locked herself in the bathroom with Jayden and was later taken to the hospital on a gurney?
That whole night is a blur. You want to talk about one of my lowest points of depression, that was probably one of them. I was very, very worried for her ’cause I care about her. That’s the mother of my children. Just because I’m not in love with her doesn’t mean that I don’t love her. I’m definitely rooting for her. There’s nothing more that I want than for her to be in the best health and doing what she loves to do.

[From People]

Kevin has definitely matured a lot, there’s no question about it, but considering what an ass he used to be he had nowhere to go but up. He did step up when his boys needed him and he deserves credit for that. It sounds like in this interview he completely skips over the fact that he left his girlfriend Shar Jackson, who was pregnant at the time with his second child, for Britney. Maybe that’s all ancient history to him. The guy has gone through a lot and is moving forward with his life for the sake of his family. I wonder if he’s still considering that reality show he was said to be shopping around. I wouldn’t put it past him.

Kevin Federline and Sean Preston are shown on Halloween outside school. Credit: Fame