Carly Pearce opened up about her marriage and divorce in a conversation with Bunnie Xo on an episode of Dumb Blonde.

Pearce, 35, met fellow country artist Michael Ray, 37, in 2018. The “What He Didn’t Do” star said she slid into his DMs because “I thought he was so cute, I had heard he’s the nicest guy in the world and I invited him to my No. 1 party for ‘Every Little Thing.’” The two singer-songwriters got married in 2019, and Pearce filed for divorce eight months later, in June 2020. She told Bunnie Xo, who has been married to Jelly Roll for nearly a decade, that she believes “we both got caught up in” the relationship. But “genuinely, I got married to go the distance. I absolutely did. When I married him, it was for the right reasons,” Pearce said. But the couple “didn’t really have real conversations, and we didn’t really know about each other.”

Pearce said she was “embarrassed” and “had a lot of shame around that” when she and Ray split up, and said the Covid-19 pandemic allowed her to go through it more privately. “I think if I had to do that in front of people, I would’ve prolonged that relationship longer.” The divorce was finalized in September 2020.

“It wasn’t what I signed up for. It just wasn’t the marriage that I know I deserve. I knew that very quickly. And I think in the first — we were only married for eight months,” she said. “Plenty happened to where it was very clear to me this was not — this just wasn’t a marriage.”

When Bunnie Xo asked whether there was any infidelity (acknowledging rumors), Pearce replied, “I mean, you know, ‘What He Didn’t Do’ wasn’t written just out of thin air. The album 29 wasn’t, you know, written out of — yeah. It wasn’t good. It wasn’t good. What’s been so hard is everybody has a different opinion. …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, they know. My parents know, and God knows, and that is enough. It’s enough.”

Bunnie Xo remained vague when she asked about a particular “situation” that garnered attention and further fueled infidelity rumors. She asked Pearce whether that was true, and whether another woman was “Jolene,” referencing Dolly Parton’s classic 70s hit.

Bunnie Xo laughed at Pearce’s reaction to the question.

“Yeah. Let’s just say…I’m not a fan of her. I’m not a fan of him,” she said. “I could’ve done so much more than I did. It’s tough. ...I shut my mouth for so long…because I felt like I had to. And I’m not here to blow anybody up or — I don’t care anymore. But yeah, I mean, when you’re faced with somebody that was a really dark season for you and then they go and blow it up on the internet, it’s just like… But, you know, also, you go, I don’t know if he told her we were divorced. I don’t know. …That was not a fun situation for me.”

Since their marriage, both Ray and Pearce have moved on to other relationships. Ray publicly confirmed his relationship with TV personality and model Audrina Patridge last summer. Pearce recently confirmed her new romance with boyfriend Jordan Karcher, a new “serious” relationship with a man she met on a dating app. Pearce told Bunnie Xo she’s “happier than ever,” and they started dating within the last six months.

The Grammy-winning country star also chatted with Bunnie Xo about how “Every Little Thing” changed her life, opened up about OCD and anxiety, losing friend and producer Busbee in 2019, challenges women face in country music, her Grand Ole Opry induction (and invitation from Parton), her diagnosis with a heart condition (recurrent pericarditis), her music and much more. Find the full episode on iHeartRadio here (warning: language).

Pearce shared a message to her ex-husband if he ever sees her or watches the Dumb Blonde episode: ”I am in the happiest season of my life. I’m actually, 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. But I think I was really shown just how much I care about me, you know? I actually really have a lot of self worth, and that [marriage and divorce] showed me that.”

Angie Ward