Jana Kramer opened up about her abusive relationship with ex-husband Michael Gambino during a new interview on Good Morning America Tuesday, October 11. Watch her emotional interview in the clip above.
The 32-year-old country singer, who is currently competing on season 23 of Dancing With the Stars with pro partner Gleb Savchenko, was in tears as she recalled the night she thought Gambino was going to kill her.
“I’ll never forget sitting in the bushes. I’m like, ‘How the heck did I — I’m hiding in my bushes — how in the world did I get here?'” she recounted Tuesday morning. “This happened a lot. He would come home from a night out at the club, and literally take me out of my bed and throw me onto the ground. He said he was gonna kill me, choked me, did all those things, and I was like, ‘This is it.'”
Kramer, who was 19 at the time, says she began to pray as she tried to fight her ex off. “My grandpa has always been my angel, and I remember praying to him, saying, ‘I don’t even want to be here anymore because I don’t know how to get out of the situation, so if there is a happier place, let me come to you,'” she explained.
The One Tree Hill alum said she saw her mother and the rest of her family at her funeral as her life flashed before her eyes that horrific night. Since then, she says she has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.
“So many women that are in abusive situations feel like they’re the reason, and the truth of the matter is they’re not,” she said on GMA.
Gambino was eventually convicted of premeditated attempted murder. After he served five years in prison and was released on parole in 2010, Kramer said she lived in fear until her ex died by suicide in 2012.
“I felt bad because my first feeling was relief that he was gone, that I didn’t have to worry about him anymore,” the “I Got the Boy” singer explained. “I felt sad that I couldn’t change his life.”
Kramer married actor Johnathon Schaech in July 2010, but they separated a month later. The divorce was finalized in June 2011. She then got engaged to country singer Brantley Gilbert, but they split in August 2013.
In May 2015, the entertainer wed former NFL star Mike Caussin, 29. The couple welcomed the first child, daughter Jolie, in January 2016. They separated in August.
Last month, sources told Us Weekly exclusively that the footballer (who previously strayed in 2014) allegedly “cheated on her multiple times with multiple women” throughout their relationship.
“Jana finally woke up — she knew she couldn’t do it anymore,” a source told Us at the time, adding that Caussin entered a Mississippi rehab facility for sex addiction. A second insider said, “She’s focused on dancing, her baby and her new album.”
