Country Music’s Biggest Cheating Scandals — and Where the Couples Are Now

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Country Music’s Biggest Cheating Scandals — and Where the Couples Are Now

All the makings of a good country song. Jason Aldean, LeAnn Rimes, Miranda Lambert and more have been at the center of cheating scandals over the years. Now married to former cop Brendan McLoughlin, the “If I Was a Cowboy” songstress’ love life has made headlines for years. When Lambert met her first husband, Blake Shelton, in 2005, he was married to Kaynette Williams. “I was a married guy, you know, standing up there going, ‘Man, this shouldn’t be happening,’” Shelton told VH1 in 2011 about seeing Lambert for the first time, not explicitly saying he was unfaithful. “Looking back on that, I was falling in love with her right there onstage.” The pair, who exchanged vows in 2011, split in 2015 after four years of marriage. Lambert was then linked to Anderson East. In 2018, however, the “Pink Sunglasses” singer made headlines when Us Weekly broke the news that she was seeing married singer Evan Felker. “[Things] started spending a lot more time together while on the road,” an insider told Us in 2018, noting that Evan’s wife, Staci Felker, subsequently filed for divorce. Shelton, for his part, moved on with Gwen Stefani, whom he married in 2021. He seemingly threw shade at Lambert at the time of her scandal with Turnpike Troubadours member. “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!!” Shelton tweeted at the time. [jwplayer 5JsHZvp3-zhNYySv2] Lambert never officially addressed the drama but confirmed in August 2018 that she was single. Evan and Staci, meanwhile, eventually reconciled, announcing in March 2021 that they had welcomed a daughter named Evangelina. In March 2022, she announced her second pregnancy. The Pistol Annies member tied the knot for the second time in 2019 after dating McLoughlin for several weeks. “We didn’t date very long before we got married. And so we sort of got to just really, really, really get to know each other,” Lambert told SiriusXM’s Storme Warren in February 2021. “It was just us two with no distraction, at my farm outside of Nashville. And so I was really thankful for it because it made us really strong.” Scroll through for more Nashville cheating controversies:

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Jason Aldean and Brittany Aldean

When “Dirt Road Anthem” singer was married to the mother of his eldest daughters, Jessica Ussery, he was caught kissing the American Idol alum in 2012.

“The truth is that I screwed up. I had too much to drink, let the party get out of hand and acted inappropriately at a bar. I left alone, caught the bus to our next show and that’s the end of the story,” he said at the time. “I ultimately ended up embarrassing my family and myself. I’m not perfect, and I’m sorry for disappointing you guys.”

Jason and Ussery split in 2013 and he debuted his romance with Brittany at the 2014 CMT Awards. “It has been two years of this s—t,” he told Billboard at the time of comments about the scandal. “Get over it, already! And then when I finally do get enough of it and say something, every newspaper grabs it. And I’m not trying to get in the headlines — I’m just trying to get people to stop running their mouths.”

They wed in 2015 and went on to welcome son Memphis and daughter Navy.

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LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian

The “Can’t Fight the Moonlight” singer was married to Dean Sheremet when she fell for Brandi Glanville’s then-husband in 2009.

“I totally felt foolish. I felt like this pathetic husband hanging around. I was very aware of how others were looking at me,” Sheremet recalled in 2015 about the affair, which started on the set of Lifetime’s Northern Lights. “I was talking to LeAnn on the phone and said, ‘I think you need to take off your wedding ring. If you’re not going to respect what it stands for, you have no right to wear it.’ She freaked out but I think, in my mind, I was done. I tried to put that part of my life behind me and went to Michigan to reconnect with family — and myself.”

Following their respective divorces, Rimes and Cibrian wed in 2011. 

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Natalie Maines and Adrian Pasdar

The Chicks singer seemingly put her ex-husband, whom she married in 2000 and split from in 2017, on blast with the 2020 album Gaslighter, but downplayed the lyrics on Howard Stern, revealing she signed an NDA as part of their divorce agreement.

“It’s not true that it's all about me. But I was the one going through it,” the “Tights on My Boat” singer said at the time. “I wonder if they'll play this conversation in court. Should we talk about it now or play it in front of the judge?"

Pasdar, who never commented on cheating speculation, shares two sons with Maines. 

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Shania Twain and Robert ‘Mutt’ Lange

The “Honey I’m Home” singer’s world was rocked when her then-husband and cowriter allegedly cheated on her with her then-friend Marie-Anne Thiébaud.

“For the first week after finding out about the affair, I was ready to die,” Twain wrote in her 2011 memoir, From This Moment On. “To go to bed forever and never wake up. Or to hurt someone. I was ready to do something desperate. But in reality, there was nothing to do but to suffer through it.”

After her 2010 divorce from Lange, with whom she shares a son, Twain married Thiébaud’s former spouse Frédéric Thiébaud in 2011.

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Miranda Lambert and Evan Felker

After his scandal with Lambert, Evan and Staci remarried in June 2020. He opened up about his indiscretions that same year.

“First and foremost, I found sobriety and recovery,” Evan wrote in August 2020. “And I stepped away from the road and got a clearer view of the world. I got back to just being me. I could not have ever done that while we were touring like we were. I had initially blamed everything on being on the road. But it’s only when you take the road out of the equation that you see you’ve still got problems. I was able to start fixing those.”

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Sara Evans and Craig Schleske

The “A Little Bit Stronger” songstress made headlines in 2006 when she and her then-husband accused each other of cheating. (They both denied the allegations.) The twosome share three kids and wed in 1993.

“It’s very personal. It’s very traumatic and it was very hard for my children,” Evans said on Dancing With the Stars at the time. “Things drastically went downhill 100 miles an hour.”

The country singer was subsequently sued by her former nanny, who denied having an affair with Schleske. They settled for a reported $500,000. Evans finalized her divorce in 2007 and went on to marry Jay Barker. The twosome split in 2021 after an alleged domestic violence incident.

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Willie Nelson and Shirley Collie

In his 2020 memoir, Nelson recalled his second wife, Shirley Collie, discovered he had secretly had a baby with another woman in the ‘60s.

“Shirley saw a bill from a Houston hospital. I tried to play it off as no big deal. I told her that I had to go to the hospital for something minor. Shirley wasn't buying that for one simple reason: The bill said the charges were for the birth of a baby girl, Paula Carlene, born to a Mrs. Connie Nelson,“ he wrote. “Shirley wanted to know who in the hell was Connie Nelson. Couldn't lie. Was caught flatfooted. Had to get the words out of my mouth. 'Connie’s my girlfriend and Paula's our daughter.’”

After his divorce from Collie, the “On the Road Again” crooner went on to admit he cheated on Connie with makeup artist Annie Marie D'Angel in 1986.

“My wandering ways were too much for any woman to put up with. I'll always love Connie. I'll always love all my wives,” he wrote. “I regret the pain I caused Connie — and Martha and Shirley before her — and have no excuses. But love is love, and in the mideighties, I fell head over heels in love with Ann Marie D'Angelo, called Annie. Never had met a woman like her before.”