Derek Chauvin’s ex-wife Kellie Chauvin believes he should have a new trial

Derek Chauvin’s former wife gripes that the fallout she endured over her ex’s heinous role in George Floyd’s death “ruined my life’’ — but she still thinks the convicted cop deserves a new trial.

Former beauty queen Kellie Chauvin, 48, made the comments to the Daily Mail in her first interview since then-husband Derek infamously knelt on Floyd’s neck during an arrest in Minneapolis in May 2020, leading to the disgraced officer’s conviction on murder charges.

Kellie, asked whether her imprisoned ex deserves a new trial, replied, “I mean, most definitely.”

The mother of two wouldn’t give a specific reason why, but when asked if his trial was unfair, she responded, “Definitely.”

Kellie — who filed for divorce from Chauvin and left Minnesota as Floyd’s death rocked the country and world — said she doesn’t talk anymore to her ex-cop former hubby, who is currently locked up in the medium-security Federal Correctional Institute Tucson in Arizona.

“Have I been in contact with him? No, I’ve moved on,” Kellie told the Mail.

She said she hasn’t been able to find work or resume her career as a Realtor because of threats and her own fear of exposure over the case.

Kellie, who now lives in a quiet Wisconsin suburb, said the ordeal “ruined my life.

“But I’m doing good. It’s just something that you have to deal with,” she said.

Asked if she thought her ex-husband of 10 years was a racist, the former Mrs. Minnesota America pageant winner refused to answer.

“’I think you’re trying to get into some questions that I don’t want to answer,” she said, just before she retreated inside the home she shares with one of her grown sons. “I’m sorry, I can’t say more.”

She changed her name to try to distance herself from the case even more, the Mail said, without revealing her new moniker or hometown.

Derek Chauvin, 46, became the jackbooted avatar for police brutality after Floyd’s killing, igniting global outrage over the case.

A bystander’s video lit the powder keg. In it, the 46-year-old Floyd lay cuffed on the ground, pinned face-first to the pavement, while Chauvin, a white 19-year veteran of the Minneapolis Police Department, drove his knee into the black man’s neck.

Floyd, a father of five children, cried out that he could not breathe. The county medical examiner later found he died from cardiopulmonary arrest stemming from neck compression.

He’d been arrested for allegedly trying to use a fake $20 bill.

A jury found Chauvin guilty of murder and manslaughter. He was sentenced to more than 22 years in prison.

Last month, Chauvin’s lawyers told an appeals court that jurors were pressured into delivering a guilty verdict because of the intense public scrutiny and a thirst for vengeance.

But prosecutors said the evidence of his guilt was “captured on video, for the world to see.”

The court will likely rule in the next three months. But even if his conviction is overturned, Chauvin would still be forced to serve a 21-year sentence for depriving Floyd of his civil rights.

Kellie Chauvin, who once worked as a radiologist, met her future husband when he brought a suspect into her hospital for a health check, the Mail said. They married on June 12, 2010.

Just before her 2018 pageant win, Kellie gushed about her husband to local media.

“Under all that uniform, he’s just a softie,” she said. “He’s such a gentleman. He still opens the door for me, still puts my coat on for me. After my divorce, I had a list of must-haves if I were ever to be in a relationship, and he fit all of them.”

The couple divorced in 2020, citing an “irretrievable breakdown” of their relationship.

The divorce petition included a statement from her lawyer, Amanda Mason-Sekula, that said Kellie was “devastated” by Floyd’s death.

“Her utmost sympathy lies with his family, with his loved ones and with everyone who is grieving this tragedy,” Mason-Sekula wrote.