EXCLUSIVELooking Back, LeAnn Rimes 'Thinks It's Unfair' She Got 'Raked Over The Coals' When Eddie Cibrian Affair Was Revealed: Source
Mar. 25 2021, Updated 8:46 a.m. ET
In 2009, LeAnn Rimes made headlines when she was caught hooking up with her Northern Lights costar Eddie Cibrian — while they were both married to other people. And now, more than a decade later, the singer, 38, is opening up about that time in her life, says an OK! source, and spilling secrets that she's never shared before.
"Looking back, LeAnn thinks it's unfair that she got raked over the coals like that," the source tells OK!, adding that the public shaming caused her to suffer panic attacks.
"All LeAnn did was fall in love. Of course, there are likely big regrets about the way everything happened, but she and Eddie never meant to hurt anyone," the source continues. "They just had this connection they couldn't walk away from."
AWKWARD! LEANN RIMES & EDDIE CIBRIAN HANG OUT WITH HIS EX-WIFE BRANDI GLANVILLE ON EASTER
Cibrian and Rimes knew they had to be together. A few months after their romance was revealed, she parted ways with then-husband Dean Sheremet, and Cibrian, 47, filed for divorce from Brandi Glanville.
And while the splits were painful for all involved — in the years that followed, the Grammy winner found herself in public feuds with both Sheremet, 40, and Glanville, 48 — Cibrian and Rimes are grateful to have each other.
"[They're] soulmates," a source says of the pair, who wed in 2011. "They're still so happy together." And while Rimes has been a great stepmom to Cibrian's sons — Mason, 17, and Jack, 13 — the source says she'd love to have a child of her own someday.
LEANN RIMES IS JEALOUS OF HER EX-HUSBAND DEAN SHEREMET BECAUSE HE'S HAVING A BABY!
"She and Eddie have tried and tried with no success," shares the source, noting that it's a struggle "no one really knows about." And now that she's pushing 40, "they know time is ticking," the source adds. "They could always go the surrogate route, and they just might do it if it doesn't happen naturally in the next few months."
