Country music star Carly Pearce has spoken up about her divorce from Michael Ray for the first time since they called it quits. The former couple split in July, eight months after tying the knot, and now Pearce has opened up about the breakdown of her marriage in an interview with People.
"I believe we don't go through things that we're not supposed to go through. My love was real. I will stand by that forever," she explained. "I did everything that I knew how to do. It takes two people to work on something."
There has been speculation that things fell apart between Pearce and Ray during their weeks in quarantine together, but the new CMA winner revealed that they had been having marital problems before lockdown. She did not share details of the split but hinted at broken trust.
"When you love somebody, you trust them," Pearce said, adding that being in self-isolation gave her time to address the issues in her life. "This was not a flippant decision," she said. "This was something that I really took time to make sure I was doing the right thing. It was very clear that this was not the marriage that I wanted."
Pearce may have been the one to file for divorce, but it did not make the break up any easier. She recalled experiencing agonizing emotional pain in the days and weeks following the split.
"I truly thought I was gonna die," she said. "There were moments I seriously did not know if I could breathe. It was awful. It is awful. But I think that what's been awesome has been trusting myself and trusting what I have always known, which is God won't take me through something that he won't bring me out of or bring good from."
Now Pearce is finding healing while processing the range of emotions she has been experiencing.
"I've been sad. I've been angry. I've been relieved," she said. "I try to not be mad at myself. I try to not be mad at him. I think that holding grudges or staying mad only hurts you, and it's just not healthy. So, I try to remind myself of that. And sure, I have days where I'm so mad at myself for just not knowing this was how it was all going to end up for me. My gosh, if I could go back, sure. But it's a part of my story, and that's okay."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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