No marriage is perfect, and even the best matches can face difficult times. Country superstars are no different. While they sing about love, they know heartbreak and how difficult decisions can come up in their lives.
While we have it hard, celebrities may have it even harder, because since they're in the public eye, everyone eventually finds out their dirty laundry.
Curious to see who's been burned and who's doing the dirty? Here are eight country stars who have been caught in very messy cheating scandals.
Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert
Before he was a country music superstar, Blake Shelton was just another singer, trying to make a name for himself in the music industry.
In 2003, Shelton got hitched to his fellow Oklahoma native Kaynette Williams, who began managing his career. Their relationship would only survive three years before they filed for divorce, with Williams citing that Shelton displayed "inappropriate marital conduct."
But, just before they separated, Shelton had been introduced to fellow country singer Miranda Lambert, with whom he was set to perform a duet with at the CMT'S "100 Greatest Duets" concert. He said once he met Lambert, he knew there was something special about her.
"I've never had that kind of experience with anybody. I was a married guy, you know? Standing up there and singing with somebody and going, 'Man, this shouldn't be happening.' Looking back on that, I was falling in love with her, right there on stage," Shelton said.
Lambert had felt the same way about Shelton, and against her better judgement, decided to become involved with him.
"I had seen their wedding picture in Country Weekly. I knew better, like this is off limits," she said. "Because my parents are private investigators, for God's sakes. I've seen this my whole life, affairs. And I'm like, "˜If all people didn't know better, I know better than this.'"
While they officially became man and wife in 2011, it wouldn't be long until the cracks in their relationship would emerge.
Even though the couple lived in Oklahoma, Shelton was often filming The Voice in L.A., and Lambert was often forced to travel out of state to visit her husband. While marriages are suppose to be equal, Shelton admitted he rarely made an effort to do the same.
"She does that for me way more than I've ever done that for her. I'll be the first one to admit that, because I'm old and I'm more apt to give up and she won't," Shelton said of their long-distance romance. "I'm just a guy about it, I guess. She's always been the one to go through hell to make sure we spend time together."
In 2015, it was announced Shelton had filed for divorce over allegations that Lambert was unfaithful. It was reported she was having an affair with fellow country star, Chris Young, who opened for her on tour. While Young denied having an affair with Lambert, the accusations were still fresh in Shelton's mind when he released the song "She's Got a Way With Words," six months later.
During that time, Shelton was also accused of infidelity with another country artist, Cady Groves, which ruined her budding career. In an interview with In Touch, Groves said while she was smitten with Shelton, it's unfair she's taking the blame for the demise of their relationship.
"This is too much. I'm going to have a nervous breakdown," she said. "Blake and Miranda are letting me take all the bullets. It's wrong."
Luckily, Shelton and Lambert haven't been wallowing in heartbreak since they've gone their separate ways, as the former couple have both found love with other people by the end of the year.
Shelton has been in a serious relationship with his fellow The Voice judge, Gwen Stefani, while Lambert only just split from fellow country crooner, Anderson East earlier this month.
But despite reports of her most recent breakups, media outlets have spotted Lambert stepping out with the Turnpike Troubadours frontman Evan Felker - who is still married.
Felker and his soon-to-be ex-wife Staci Nelson were only married for a year before she felt "forced" to file for divorce, citing "abandonment" as the cause of their failed union.
While the exact details surrounding the split have yet to be uncovered, sources are reporting Felker and Lambert got together earlier this year when Felker's band became the opening act for Lambert's Livin' Like Hippies tour.
"Staci had no other choice but to file for divorce," a source close to Nelson said when she found out about the affair. "She was devastated."
Of course, when Shelton caught wind of his ex-wife's most recent scandal, he made sure everyone heard his thoughts on it.
"Been taking the high road for a long time.. I almost gave up. But I can finally see something on the horizon up there!! Wait!! Could it be?! Yep!! It's karma!!" he tweeted.
Jason Aldean
In 2012, Jason Aldean made headlines for something other than just his music. The "Take a Little Ride" singer had being caught kissing former American Idol contestant Brittany Kerr at a bar in Hollywood - despite the fact he was married to Jessica Ann Ussery, his high school sweetheart.
"The truth is I screwed up. I had too much to drink I let the party get out of hand and acted inappropriately at a bar," Aldean admitted in a public apology posted online. "I ultimately ended up embarrassing my family and myself."
While the couple - who had been married since 2001 and have two daughters together - tried to make their relationship work, Aldean ultimately filed for divorce a year later.
Following the divorce, it wouldn't be long until Aldean and Kerr rekindled their romance, despite the backlash from his fans.
When Kerr made her first public appearance with Aldean as his plus one at the 2014 CMT Music awards, people weren't afraid to voice their negative opinions on the couple's relationship.
However, Aldean wouldn't take the criticism lying down, and expressed his anger on an Instagram caption.
"So sick of people judging me and @brittanylkerr over things they know nothing about," he wrote. "I have made mistakes but i am a better person because of it, and wouldn't change a thing. I'm happier than i have ever been, so thank u to all the people who support us. We are happy and life goes on. It's time to move on people."
Aldean and Kerr eventually tied the knot in 2015, and welcomed their son Memphis into the world in 2017.
Garth Brooks
Garth Brooks first meet his first wife, Sandy Mahl, when he was working as a bouncer at a college bar, and it wouldn't be long until the two became smitten. After graduation, the pair got married and began planning out their future as Brook's music career started to rise.
However, in 1987, the couple were only a year into their marriage when struggling musician Trisha Yearwood would come along and befriend the country superstar - with whom Brooks felt an instant connection.
"I felt that feeling like when you just meet your wife." Brooks said on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
"Being married, it's gotta be right. This is who you went to college with and you were married in front of God and your family and everybody," he added. "Still, at the end of the day there comes that time where you're looking at the rest of your life and going, 'How do you want to live it?'"
In 1993, Brooks admitted in an interview with Barbara Walters that he had been unfaithful to his wife of four years, and they only reconciled "after I wore out a pair of jeans while I was down on my knees begging her to take me back," he explained.
While the couple managed to temporarily mend their relationship (and have three children together), Brooks ended up filing for divorce in 2000, and began dating Yearwood, who would eventually become his second wife.
"I never knew it could be like this," Brooks said in the same interview with Ellen DeGeneres. "I never knew that every day you could feel like this."
Shania Twain
Shania Twain was shocked in 2008 to find out her husband of 14 years, Robert "Mutt" Lange had been unfaithful to her.
He ended up leaving the "Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?" singer for their longtime secretary and house manager, Marie-Anne Thiébaud. Twain had considered Thiébaud one of her best friends, which made the situation even worse.
"I'll be honest: when your husband leaves you, and falls into the arms of your close friend, your self-esteem can really suffer," Twain wrote in her memoir, From This Moment On.
Twain even admitted she begged Thiébaud to end her affair with her husband, but her pleads fell on deaf ears.
Ultimately, the relationship between the two former friends couldn't be mended, especially after Twain's first encounter with Thiébaud following the end of her relationship with Lange.
"I had a total panic attack," Twain said. "I just told her that she was a bad person - that's all I could get out!"
But, Twain wouldn't be back on the market for long. The "Man! She found love later that year in her former friend's ex-husband Frédéric Thiébaud. The couple was married in 2011 and are still happily together.
"Fred is not only nice, he's incredible," Twain said. "He's attentive, brighter than God should ever allow any one man to be, funny, romantic and cute as heck. Most of all, he shows what he feels, and that's a quality that could come in any shape or size and be admired "” it just so happens that Fred has a very gorgeous shape. He's too good to be true, only he's real! Good for me, is all I can say, and I'm loving every minute of it."
Randy Travis
While plenty of people have associated Randy Travis with the word "drama" following his shocking 2012 arrest, the "Three Wooden Crosses" singer also caused quite the stir when he was caught cheating on his wife of 19 years, Elizabeth Hatcher, with his dentist's wife.
Hatcher, who also acted as her husband's manager, supposedly caught Travis's infidelity by planting a hidden camera in his tour bus, making their 2010 divorce was anything but civil.
During their split, Travis had accused Hatcher of ruining his career, while his former wife said he still owed her thousands of dollars in back pay, and sued him for breach of contract.
But as the court battle between Travis and Hatcher went on, the singer would still find time to continue his relationship with his mistress, Mary Beougher. The two would eventually wed in 2015, beating the odds when Travis suffered from a life-threatening stroke only two years prior.
"He wakes up with a smile on his face; he goes to bed with a smile on his face. He inspires me daily," Beougher told WFAA.
Keith Urban
Although we all know Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban as our favorite celebrity couple from down under, their marriage hasn't always been something to strive for.
Prior to their nuptials in 2006, Urban hadn't been faithful to the Moulin Rouge! actress, as he had an affair with a part-time model, 16 years his junior.
Nashville resident Amanda Wyatt revealed the country singer had been unfaithful to Kidman throughout their entire courtship and engagement. Wyatt claims the two met in a bar after she told the "You'll Think Of Me" singer she was a big fan. They started partying together and taking drugs, as Urban was known for his cocaine addiction.
While she never pressured Urban into a serious relationship, he eventually ended their dalliance so he could marry Kidman.
"I feel sorry for Nicole. Keith cheated on her repeatedly with me, right up to just before they got married," Wyatt said. "He's done it once and he will probably do it again. I know him as well as anyone and while he can be charming and loving, he is also someone who is constantly fighting his demons."
"I hope their marriage works - but leopards don't change their spots," she said. "Keith is a guy who has everything, but he is never truly happy."
Shortly after Kidman and Urban wed, the latter checked himself into a rehabilitation facility and has been clean for 12 years. He said he owes it all to Kidman, who has supported him all along the way.
"I was spiritually awoken with her. I use the expression 'I was born into her,' and that's how I feel. And for the first time in my life, I could shake off the shackles of addiction," Urban shared.
Willie Nelson
After discovering Willie Nelson had fathered a child with Connie Koepke, his marriage to fellow country star Shirley Collie ended in 1971. Collie found out about the love child after finding a bill from the hospital maternity ward addressed to Nelson and Koepke.
Nelson and Collie often collaborated together, but when the "Whiskey River" singer went on tour, he left his wife at home to take care of his children from his first marriage. During that time, their marriage unraveled due to the infidelity and excessive alcohol and drug use on both their sides.
After his divorce from Collie was finalized, he immediately wed Koepke, and they welcomed another daughter into the world that same year. They stayed together for seven years before they also split up.
"When Willie came out to sing," Koepke said of their initial meeting. "He looked down and smiled. It wasn't a flirty look, just a warm, neat feeling. Before the night was over he asked for my phone number, and the next time he came through Houston he called. I went to the show and that was it."
Willie Nelson's wife Annie D'Angelo proves that the fourth time's a charm. Despite his previous three marriages ending in divorce, it appears that Willie Nelson's fourth wife is 100 percent the country music legend's perfect match.
LeAnn Rimes
A staple in the country music industry since she was 14 years old, LeAnn Rimes's personal life has always been a hot topic for the public.
In 2001, Rimes was hosting the Academy of Country Music Awards when she met backup dancer Dean Sheremet. The two quickly fell in love and tied the knot when Rimes was only 18 and Sheremet was 20.
However, Sheremet said their relationship was unequal as Rimes was on the path to super stardom while he was just getting into the dancing industry. He decided to take a step back from his own career and become the manager of hers.
When Rimes decided she wanted to pursue acting, Sheremet suggested she film the 2009 Lifetime movie Northern Lights. It was there Rimes met Eddie Cibrian, began their much publicized affair.
"Never in a million years did I think something like that would have happened. The need for me in her life was so strong," Sheremet explained. "There were things she couldn't do without me. She had her own phone but never used it. People would call me to get to her. Everything went through me."
"I wouldn't trust [Cibrian] as far as I could throw this f--king table," he added.
The adulterous pair ended up separating from their spouses and once their divorces were finalized, married each other.
Despite the affair occurring nearly a decade ago, both the media and public haven't been quick to forget about Rimes and Cibrian's indiscretions, leading them to defend their actions on countless occasions.
"I never, ever, in my heart want to hurt anyone, but I don't think anything can separate anything that's super-connected," Rimes told Giuliana Rancic while discussing her infidelity. "You might have had so many wonderful things with each other's spouses in your relationships, but something along the way broke that. You can't break what's broken already."
Source: Country Fancast / Daily Mail / Global News / Fame 10
