Brian McKnight’s ex-wife was heartbroken to hear the singer refused to tell their son Niko “I love you” on his deathbed.

“Those words should come easily, freely and often,” Julie McKnight told Page Six in an exclusive statement Friday. “And in Niko’s case, lying on his sick bed, fighting through pain, fear and uncertainty, he deserved that love spoken over him more than ever.”

The 54-year-old, who was married to Brian from 1990 to 2003, added that “there is nothing more heartbreaking than hearing your child say that all they want is to simply his his father say” those three words.

“No child should have to long for something so basic, so pure, so necessary to the human heart,” she continued. “As his mother, hearing those words from him cut deeper than anything I could have imagined.

“

See Full Page