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In an interview with Bunnie XO on the Dumb Blonde podcast, Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter Carly Pearce candidly discussed the “darkest time” in her life when she was “mortified” after her marriage to Michael Ray failed.

Pearce, who had wed Ray in July 2019 in a ceremony held at the singer’s family farm in Harmony Hill, Kentucky, revealed that she realized immediately she had married the wrong man. “I had sex with Michael before we even started dating,” she said during the chat. “And that was our relationship.”

Pearce continued to tell her interviewer that her marriage to her former husband, Michael Ray, was not an act of rashness but was conducted in all seriousness as she was 100% committed. But she admitted to Bunnie that when the Kentucky-native singer tied the knot with Ray in the summer of 2019, she was wrong.

Pearce’s popular singles include Every Little Thing, Should’ve Known Better, Circle Around This Bar, and If My Heart Had a Heart. The country singer was on the Dumb Blonde podcast with Bunnie XO, where she described their relationship as one not of love but of lust, and she knew that when she walked down the aisle.

“When I met him, I thought he was so cute. I’d heard he’s the nicest guy in the world. I invited him to my No. 1 party for Every Little Thing. Looking back on it, it was a hot and heavy lust. It wasn’t love. It was just passionate,” Pearce added.

The 31-year-old country singer and songwriter said that even though she got married with the full intention of “going the distance,” she did not know what it takes for two people to make it in life.

She admitted, “We didn’t have real conversations, and we didn’t really know about each other. We were kind of living this life that wasn’t really reality, like, and so it wasn’t what I signed up for. I didn’t sign up to be in a relationship that’s just, you know. It just wasn’t the marriage that I knew I deserved. I knew that very quickly. I just knew. Plenty happened to where it was very clear to me that this was not, this just wasn’t a marriage.”

Pearce explained that the night of her wedding to Ray in July 2019, she had that niggling feeling about her marriage. “I knew the night I got married that I shouldn’t have,” Pearce said.

The star revealed that when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the world to lockdown, and everyone in the country went into isolation, it helped her deal with the breakup of her marriage. “I think the best thing that ever happened to me was COVID because it allowed me to deal with that in private. I probably would have stayed in it longer if I could have avoided it and not had to. I was embarrassed when it happened … and I had shame around that and was heartbroken,” she said.

Divorce, Conjecture, and Restoring Worth

In 2020, Pearce filed for divorce, only eight months after she had married Ray. She has never revealed what transpired between her and the country singer. But, in an interview she gave in May 2020, Pearce said: “It wasn’t what I signed up for. It just wasn’t the marriage that I knew I deserved. I knew that very quickly. Plenty happened to where it was very clear to me this was not, this just wasn’t a marriage,” she had said.

In an interview with Bunnie XO of the Dumb Blonde podcast, the former newlywed briefly spoke about rumors that her marriage was destroyed because her husband, Ray, cheated on her. While Carly Pearce did not comment on whether her husband was involved with another woman during their relationship, she shared her thoughts on how it felt hearing the rumor. “It was so hard for me at first because I was like, ‘That’s not true, that’s not true, that’s not true. What he’s saying isn’t true.’ But at the end of the day, my friends who walked that with me know. My parents know, and God knows, and that is enough. It’s enough,” the now-divorced wife said.

Pearce has also let it be known that she has since come to terms with her failed marriage to Ray. She has no plans to talk about the details of her marriage or what may have gone wrong or right because she knows what she is about. The “Never Wanted to Be Your Woman” singer also has this to say: “I am in the happiest season of my life. I know that now. I feel that way right now as I’m speaking to you. I know that. I feel so good. I wish I could bottle this up,” she said.

During her appearance on the Dumb Blonde podcast, Pearce revealed that she felt shame when her divorce became public knowledge, but has since repositioned her thinking to count her blessings.

She further added, “If I ever saw him, if he ever watches this, thank you, because you taught me more about myself. You taught me how strong I am. You put me through things that have made me better now. And I don’t wish him evil. I don’t wish anything on him. I’m so glad that I’m not in that anymore,” the singer added.

The blonde singer Pearce opened up more about her failed marriage by admitting that the pain she felt made her see just how important she was in her own life. “I think I was really shown just how much I care about myself. I actually really have a lot of self-worth, and that showed me that,” she concluded.