R Kelly's daughter Joann admits her 'heart is torn' and that she still 'loves' her dad

R Kelly’s estranged daughter Joann Kelly has said that she still “loves” her father and that she is finding it “hard to digest” the allegations levelled against him.

Joann appeared on Good Morning Britain alongside her mother Drea to talk about accusations of sexual abuse and R Kelly running a “cult” which were documented in Surviving R Kelly. He has denied the claims.

Joann said: “It’s a very hard situation to digest, and even process, because my heart is torn into two separate places.

“As my mother said, I don’t want to confirm or deny anything that the women have been saying about my father, any rumours that have been going around throughout the years about my father.

“But as I said, I know him, he’s my father, I grew up in that house to a certain extent, so I spent years in that house and so it’s very painful to see that all of these people are now being affected and have been affected by somebody I do care about.”

Joann confessed that it had been “a while” since the two had spoken and that she would have to “love him from a distance if he was a toxic person”.

She added: “At the end of the day it’s still family, he’s still my blood. So yes, I do still love my father. That’s something I want people to understand – I never came out and said what I said to make people feel like I hate him or I’m bashing him as that’s not it.”

Kelly’s ex-wife Drea revealed details about her life with the Ignition singer, claiming that he was “abusive” towards her.

She told the ITV breakfast show: “I can only speak to my truth and what my truth is what I survived – he was abusive to me verbally, emotionally, physically, sexually and as we stand today, he’s financially abusing me. He stopped paying child support when I came forward.”

But Drea added that she “couldn’t not say anything as a mother and a survivor” and that “coming forward brings validity to stories”.

In a statement, Kelly’s lawyers said: “Mr Kelly loves all of his children and would love to see them. Drea’s allegations were fully investigated and determined to be unfounded and rejected by the judge during their divorce and are without merit.”

Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV.