.

Carly Pearce recently shared details of one of the worst periods of her personal life. According to the Grammy-winning country singer, she was aware the night she got married that she made a mistake.

Pearce opened up about the failed relationship with fellow country singer Michael Ray on Bunnie XO’s Dumb Blonde podcast. During the interview, she said she was in love with Ray, but it was the wrong type of love.

Pearce is well known for such hits as Every Little Thing and Should’ve Known Better. The Kentucky-native got married in 2019, and eight months later, the couple divorced. Recalling how she met Michael Ray, she said she was besotted with him at first sight. “I thought he was so cute,” Pearce added, “I 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 insisted that although she felt this way, she entered the marriage with Michael Ray with all seriousness. “I got married to go the distance. When I married him, it was for the right reasons,” she added.

Pearce further explained that, in retrospect, both she and Ray did not have meaningful conversations to know one another better. “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,” she noted.

The singer added that on the day she got married, her “spider senses were tingling.” “I knew the night I got married that I shouldn’t have,” she added, “It’s like when you have a feeling about something and you try to convince yourself. COVID, for me, was a blessing in disguise. I know it’s horrible. I’m not saying that to anyone’s face. I lost my husband, but 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.”

Pearce continued, “I was embarrassed when it happened. … I had shame around that and was heartbroken.”

Divorce, Cheating Rumors, and Knowing Her Self-Worth

Pearce made the divorce from Ray official in 2020, just eight months after they tied the knot. She has since kept details of her marital problems private, but she admitted that she quickly realized that the union was not what she signed up for. “It wasn’t what I signed up for,” she said, “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.”

Pearce and Bunnie XO briefly touched on the cheating rumors, which suggested that Michael Ray was unfaithful to his wife. While the Grammy-nominated singer did not confirm or deny the allegation, she said it was annoying to hear and respond to. “People have all their opinions, and, at first, that was so hard for me 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.”

Pearce said that even though she was embarrassed, cheated on, and became a divorcee at a young age, she has emerged from it a stronger person. The experience taught her the value of her self-worth, she says. “I am in the happiest season of my life,” she said, “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.”

She added that when things with Michael Ray were not working out, she was forced to be true to herself. “I think I was really shown just how much I care about myself,” she said, “I actually really have a lot of self-worth, and that showed me that.”

Pearce said while her career and love life are flourishing and she has a new single called “Her Type,” she is grateful for the episode with Michael Ray. She admitted that she once felt ashamed, but now is glad she was embarrassed.