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Jana Kramer opened up about the judgement she expects from some commenters as she gets ready to say âI doâ to fiancĂŠ Allan Russell.
On the latest episode of Whine Down with Jana Kramer, the country singer-songwriter and actress âgot a bit emotionalâ during her conversation with Kathryn Woodard âbecause itâll always be a tough subject to talk about.â While talking about relationship rumors between Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck, Kramer acknowledged the challenges of having a relationship in the public eye. She said, bottom line, she wants âeveryone to be happy.â
âEven marrying Allan, [she sees] the comments of the people that are going to come in and go, âoh, you know, hope this fourth time ââ I'm like, âyou have no idea,ââ she said. âOK, so what? So what sheâs been married four times? So what Iâm getting married these many times? Iâm not going to fault someone for loving and trying. And I donât think she should, I donât feel like anyone should have the hate and the negativity around loving and trying. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnât⌠itâs hard. Itâs hard enough being in a married closed doors.â
Woodard explained that she understands the public intrigue of wanting to know whatâs going on between Lopez and Affleck, though âI donât defend hate ever.â Kramer said she wasnât sure whether the hate bothered her so much as the feelings of failure. She got emotional as she said, âdo you think I wanted to be married that many times? ...Itâs embarrassing.â Woodard acknowledged that her friend just wanted âto find love,â and doubted that many people understood that Kramer âwanted to get married once and be happy for the rest of your life. Thatâs the most important thing to you.â Itâs unfair for Kramer to feel at fault for âtrying to find true love,â Woodard said.
âIt's just because everyone just reads like headlinesâŚI mean, Allan is the first person who I didnât feel like I had to defend my past,â Kramer said. âNormally, like I went on this one date with this guy and he was like, âso youâve been married a lot,â and thatâs always kind of been the conversation where Iâm like, âyeah, when I was 19 I met someone and I knew him for, you know, a few days (and) went to Vegas. I was an idiot. He tried to kill me.â âŚâYeah, I walked down the aisle to someone else and I realized within a week that I made a stupid decision. I was trying to be chosen. I was very young and I was still, like, had a lot to do, but I knew it wasnât gonna work.â And so, those two are like, werenât marriages to me. To me, I always say Iâve been married once, which was with Mike [Caussin, Kramerâs ex-husband with whom she shares children Jolie, 8, and Jace, 5], and do people honestly think that I wanted to not be in that marriage? I did not want my husband to cheat on me countless times. I would have loved to have been married to him. Having said that, you know, Iâm now grateful for the love that I do have nowâŚbut I did not want to get divorced. I would not have stayed for that many years, affair after affair. I donât want that. But I do want love. So, thatâs the piece, too, even just with the upcoming wedding, thereâs embarrassment with it. People donât know the whole story. They just see a headline⌠You can say all the million things to me, but thatâs always the one that hurts because I have shame around it, and i donât because it led me here. So itâs twofold.
âAnd now Iâm so grateful because Iâm like, i canât imagine a world without Roman,â Kramer said later, referencing her third child and her first with her fiancĂŠ. Kramer and Russell welcomed son Roman James in November 2023. âI canât imagine a world without Allan. âŚThis is a beautiful life that Iâd never imagined I could ever have. âŚWhen I first met him, it didnât even make him flinch. It didnât make me feel crazy, didnât make me feel like I had to defend myself. He was just like, youâre a warrior and I love you. That piece has been great, and Iâm not â though there (are) pieces of shame in it, itâs just because of the comments and stuff. But Iâm so grateful for that path. I just want everyone to be happy.â
Kramer posted a photo on Instagram on Tuesday morning from the day she shopped for her wedding dress. She spoke about the emotional podcast episode in her caption, acknowledging that past decisions can sometimes lead to hurt and shame. Woodard, however, reminded her that âitâs not meant to define you.â
âI feel like I got to take a piece of myself back when I talked about my past relationships in my book The Next Chapter,â Kramer said. âIt felt freeing but most people only read the clicks and come to the same conclusion that âsheâs a mess.â And honestly as happy as I am, that has always been the hardest piece for me as âif people only knew.â Listen to this weekâs podcast to understand all this and where my head goes. SoâŚ.Hereâs to the girl that feels like she has messed up a million times. Thinks sheâs the common denominator. That she deserves abuse, that she is bad. That she is the problemâŚ.. donât let your past define you. Youâre allowed to start over..as many times as you want. Youâre allowed to be happy. No matter how many times it takes. Love. Love with your whole heart. And fight. Fight for yourself to be the best version. Fight to understand your whys and the lessons till you get to exactly where you were always supposed to be⌠and who you always were, but never believed. âĽď¸.â