LeAnn Rimes knows all too well about airing out her dirty laundry.
The country star didn’t always have the tools to properly handle the public backlash she often faced – especially when it came to her very public affair with husband Eddie Cibrian.
“I realized very quickly that there are a lot of women who’ve been hurt. Like, I’ve been on both sides of that coin — I’ve been cheated on, too, so I know that feeling,” Rimes told Flow Space in a new interview. “But so many women don’t know what to do with that anger… I was a target that was just easily projected upon. And once I realized that, things got a lot easier.”
BRANDI GLANVILLE SAYS SHE AND LEANN RIMES ARE ‘LIKE SISTER WIVES’ AFTER A ‘DECADE OF FIGHTING’
“Instead of taking it so personally, it’s like, look: This is not all my pain to carry. I know what I’m responsible for in the situation and making amends for that. But you know, the world’s pain is not mine to carry, and I think that really got thrown at me for a long time,” she added.
“I felt very alone in this world for a long time,” she continued. “I don’t necessarily feel that way anymore… I don’t feel like I’m ever in hiding.”
Rimes and Cibrian met while filming the Lifetime movie “Northern Lights.” They were both married to other people at the time, but pursued a relationship anyway.
After both divorcing their spouses and tying the knot in 2011, Rimes faced a wave of hate.
“Starting as a child star [I had] all this protection,” Rimes, who will star in “911: Nashville” this fall, told the outlet. “But it was like, if I want to live a fulfilling life, I’ve got to learn how to let that guard down. To me, it was either I was going to die, or I had to confront it. It was complete survival.”
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These days, Rimes and Cibrian, who shares sons Mason, 22, and Jake, 18, with ex-wife, Brandi Glanville, are living life to the fullest and have learned healthy ways to co-exist as a blended family.
“I think I’ve gone from survival to thriving to — if there is a level up from thriving — to truly living. I think that’s where I’m headed,” Rimes said.
