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Pearce confessed that she knew right after the marriage to her husband, it wasn’t meant to be. She revealed that during an episode of Bunnie XO’s podcast Dumb Blonde that her relationship with her husband was “hot and heavy lust,” but it was not “love.” After a year and eight months of marriage, Pearce and Ray called it quits in 2020.

The country singer from Kentucky said she got into a “relationship that led to a wedding, too fast” with Ray, according to a CMT article. “I was really excited and happy and in love… I thought he was so cute. 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,” said Pearce.

Pearce told Bunnie XO that when she got married, it was not a “decision [she] took lightly” and that she went into it thinking she was going “the distance.” Pearce’s fans know her for her No. 1 country songs, Every Little Thing and Should’ve Known Better, but her career is doing better than ever after her divorce from Ray.

She added that despite that, they rushed into getting married without really getting to know each other on a deeper level. “We didn’t have real conversations and didn’t really know about each other. We were kind of living this life that wasn’t really reality,” Pearce said.

Pearce Speaks About Divorce From Husband, Ray

She went on to say that even on her wedding day, she knew she had made the wrong decision. “I knew the night I got married that I shouldn’t have,” Pearce said on the podcast. “COVID, while it was super hard, it was a blessing 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. I had shame around that and was heartbroken.”

The “I Hope You’re Happy Now” singer and Bunnie XO also briefly touched on rumors that Ray was cheating while they were together. While she didn’t exactly deny or confirm those rumors, the Grammy Award-winner said it was difficult to hear people gossiping about her marriage. “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,” she said. “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.”

Pearce Filed for Divorce From Ray in 2020

The Kentucky native filed for divorce from her husband in 2020, eight months after they got married. While she never really delved into the details of their split, she did say that “nothing was even close to what I signed up for.” She also said that their relationship “just wasn’t the marriage that I know I deserved” and said that “plenty happened to where it was very clear to me that this was not, this just wasn’t a marriage.”

Pearce continued to say that while it was a tough time in her life, it allowed her to take a look at herself. “It was super hard for me, and when I came out of that, I was 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. 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 the divorce came, it made her realize that “she cares a lot about herself.”

“I was actually really shown just how much I care about myself. I actually really have a lot of self-worth, and that showed me that,” she said.