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Carly Pearce admitted that she knew her marriage to country music singer Michael Ray was not going to last the night she got married to him. The 34-year-old singer has told Bunnie XO’s Dumb Blonde podcast that she had a feeling it would not work right from the start. She said that while she and Ray got along so well because they were “hot and heavy” in their relationship, it was not love but passion. “It was like I had been with a great guy. We just hit it off,” she said, recalling when they first met. “It was lust crazily, but we ended up getting married eight months later.” The “I Hope You’re Happy Now” singer, who divorced the “Every Little Thing” hitmaker, said that their relationship was just a friendship on a deeper level. In 2019, Pearce got married to Ray, to the surprise of her close friends, family, and fans. “When I look at our timeline, I had this red flag already the night I got married,” she told Bunnie XO. “I knew the night I got married, I should not have gotten married.” In the end, Pearce and Ray divorced in 2020, eight months after tying the knot.

Pearce made some shocking revelations about her relationship with Ray and why she knew it was a mistake right from the start. “We just didn’t have enough relationship to where we could grow and figure it out,” she said. “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 continued. “We just went from hanging out to fast. We had very close friends who didn’t think I should have gotten married because I did it so fast.” However, the singer, whose real name is Carly Lynne Sibrell, is of the view that she went into the relationship with the best of intentions. “When I married him, it was for the right reasons,” she added. “I got married to go the distance.”

Thankfully, since the divorce, she has moved on and does not regret anything. “I think the best thing that ever happened to me was COVID because it allowed me to deal with that in private,” she said. “I probably would have stayed in it longer if I could have avoided it and not had to. … I was embarrassed when it happened,” she continued. “Especially for me, because I felt like I’m a very private person when it comes to my personal life. I was embarrassed about it, and I had shame around that and was heartbroken.” However, with support from her family and friends, she was able to pull through that season of her life.

Pearce On Divorce From Michael Ray, Rumors, and Her Self-Worth

The Tennessee native, who got divorced from Ray in 2020, only eight months after their marriage, has kept mum about the real reason their marriage ended in a divorce so soon. However, the “Every Little Thing” hitmaker has revealed that her marriage to Ray was not the fairy-tale love story she had imagined it to be, at least not initially. “It wasn’t what I signed up for. It just wasn’t the marriage that I knew I deserved. I knew that very quickly,” Pearce said. “Plenty happened to where it was very clear to me this was not, this just wasn’t a marriage.”

Pearce and Bunnie XO discussed rumors that Ray cheated on her while they were together. While she did not confirm the cheating claims, Pearce admitted that it was one of the worst parts of the divorce, having to clear the air of all the false stories about her failed relationship with Ray. “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.

In an interview with PEOPLE, Pearce had also hinted that she does not know what went wrong but knows that the marriage was off from the start. “We always said if we didn’t have a marriage on day one, that we had no business getting married,” she said. “But I didn’t listen. I know. You know. And that is all that matters,” she continued. The “All American Girl” singer added that her failed marriage was one of the most difficult times in her life, especially because I felt like I was doing what I was supposed to be doing and I was taught to do. When that’s taken away, that’s hard for anybody.”

Pearce’s weight has since found love again, as she is dating Cy Taylor. She has also found self-assurance and worth following her divorce. “I am in the happiest season of my life. If I ever saw him, if he ever watches this, thank you, because you taught me more about myself,” she said. “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.”