.

Carly Pearce has shared a “major failure” of her personal life, when she revealed she knew the marriage to her ex, fellow country singer Michael Ray, was not the right decision the night they got married.

The Grammy Award-winning singer, who is currently dominating the country music charts with her hit song I Hope You’re Happy Now, discussed her relationship and divorce from Ray during an interview on Bunnie XO’s Dumb Blonde podcast. Pearce and Ray wed in 2019, but the marriage only lasted eight months.

Pearce, who was born in Kentucky, got her big break with the 2017 country hits Every Little Thing and Should’ve Known Better. The singer said she had a “wild” romance with Michael Ray, and though she was sure she was making the right choice at the time, a year later, she knew the marriage was the wrong one.

“I was like, ‘Oh, here we go. It’s real, and I’m doing it,” Pearce explained. “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.”

Pearce said she knew deep down the marriage would not work, but she hoped it was a sign to continue the relationship. “I got married to go the distance. When I married him, it was for the right reasons. I wanted to be married to him, and I did,” she stated. “Looking back on it, I feel like we both failed because I know when I went into it that I never once was like, oh, this might not work or this could go away,” the singer said. “It’s hard to have a relationship last when you never talk about real things.”

Pearce said that she knew the night she got married that things were not going to work, but she had to face months of rumors and gossip. “The first thing I thought the day of our wedding was, I knew the night I got married that I shouldn’t have,” Pearce said. “Thank God for COVID. I was like, ‘This is a blessing because I would have been in a worse spot if I could have stayed, or could have been out in the world and trying to put that facade of my relationship. I was embarrassed when it happened. I was embarrassed that this happened.”

Pearce filed for divorce from Ray in 2020, but has not given any specifics as to what caused their split. What she did say was that the split was sudden and shocking. “It wasn’t what I signed up for,” she said. “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 Speaks On Relationship Rumors with Michael Ray

Pearce and Bunnie XO, a fellow country singer, touched briefly on rumors that Ray may have cheated during the marriage. The singer did not confirm the rumors, but did say it was hard to listen to others discuss their relationship while they were still together.

“It’s true that we have two different stories. But the only people who matter are the people who walked with me through that, and they know. My parents know, and God knows, and that is enough. It’s enough,” she stated. “I am in the happiest season of my life. I am the happiest that I’ve ever been. 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.”

Pearce shared that the time when she was trying to save her relationship with Ray was her breaking point when it came to her self-worth.

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