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Carly Pearce, the Grammy-winning singer, is preparing to release her debut album “Live Forever.” As for her love life, the country singer has recently opened up about her short marriage to Michael Ray. During a recent interview for Bunnie XO’s Dumb Blonde podcast, Pearce said she knew from the start that her marriage to the singer was a mistake.

Ray and Pearce, both country music singers, married in 2019. At the time, they stated they were incredibly happy to be together. However, according to the Kentucky-born singer, their relationship was more passionate than loving. As such, the two separated just eight months later.

The singer, who shot to fame with Every Little Thing and Should’ve Known Better songs, recalled how their whirlwind romance led to their engagement and later marriage in 2019. “I thought he was so cute,” she said while discussing the beginning of their relationship. “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 further emphasized that the thought of marriage was never in her mind. “I got married to go the distance. When I married him, it was for the right reasons,” Pearce said. However, looking back on that decision now, Pearce stated that the couple was at fault as they did not have the most important things that are required for a relationship to grow and develop. “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 said.

Pearce further revealed that she realized the reality of the situation on her wedding day. “I knew the night I got married that I shouldn’t have,” she said. Fortunately for Pearce, she experienced COVID-19 when things between her and Ray started to fall apart. In an interview with the Today Show, Pearce said, “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.”

Divorce Rumors and Finding Self-Worth

Pearce’s divorce from Michael Ray was filed in 2020, only eight months after they exchanged vows. In recent interviews, Pearce stated that she had not elaborated on what went wrong for the couple. However, in one of the interviews, she admitted that it became apparent to her very soon that their marriage was not what she had signed up for. “It wasn’t what I signed up for,” she said of her marriage. “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 also discussed during the Dumb Blonde episode the rumors that Ray had cheated on her. Pearce, when asked, did not confirm or deny the allegations; however, she spoke about how difficult it was for her to defend herself. “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,” she said.

Pearce is grateful that she found clarity, strength, and resilience out of an experience that once devastated her. She said she did feel embarrassed about the situation, but now she can look back and laugh at the moments that were once painful for her.