NEW YORK• Reality TV star Khloe Kardashian said she called off her divorce from former basketball star Lamar Odom for medical reasons, not for a romantic reconciliation.

She told People magazine in an interview released on Wednesday that she still loves Odom, who is recovering from a collapse at a brothel two weeks ago, but "it's not even in our brains thinking about us as a couple or having a relationship right now".

"There are too many other important things, too many medical things," she added, saying she called off the divorce proceedings in order to be able to make medical decisions on Odom's behalf.

The former Los Angeles Lakers player, 35, is recovering from a coma after being found unconscious at a Nevada brothel where authorities said he used cocaine and a herbal sexual-enhancement supplement.

The couple, whose four-year marriage and split were featured in the Keeping Up With The Kardashians reality show and spin-off series Khloe And Lamar, withdrew their divorce papers last week after Kardashian, 31, rushed to Odom's bedside.

"I had to get to him and make sure he was okay," she told People.

"I hate that he was in that situation. I wouldn't want anybody in that situation, especially someone I love and care about."

Kardashian was cautiously optimistic about Odom's condition.

"The fact that he woke up was definitely a sigh of relief for everybody," she said.

"Every hour is different. It goes up and it goes down, but he's awake.

"He's alive and that's all I wanted, was for him to be okay."

REUTERS