Sara Evans-Country Singer, Dancing Diva or Drama Queen?

There is shocking news today, about Sara Evans, the "Dancing with the Stars" celebrity. For those of you who are out of the loop, Sara Evans is a country music singer who has been competing for the past several weeks on ABC's hit show "Dancing with the Stars," third season. There are several celebrities who are each paired with professional dancers. Each celebrity is taught a new dance by their professional dance partner, and the routines are performed live every week. The celebrities are judged by a panel of professional judges and also voted on by the at-home audience. Every week, the celebrity with the lowest score from the judges for that week's performance, as well as the least votes from the viewers goes home on a second live show, the evening following their performances. At the end of the series, the last celebrity remaining is the winner.

All these weeks, Sara Evans has worked diligently to learn her weekly routines and unbeknownst to the viewers and apparently even her dance partner, she has also been working on filing for a divorce against her husband Craig Schelske. The divorce papers were filed yesterday, the day after she stood onstage with her dance partner, smiling, as a result of being spared from going home, solely due to the viewing audience votes. Today, Ms. Evans has announced she is dropping out of the show so she can spend more time with her children, and has asked that her fans and TV viewers respect her family's privacy during this very difficult time. In the divorce documents filed in Tennessee, Ms. Evans is accuses her husband of abuse, infidelity and addiction to pornography. WOW! Who could have seen that coming?

I am sure she has been pondering the decision to file for the divorce for quite some time. It is not unusual in our law practice to see people who come in for an initial consultation and then wait several months, even a year or more before coming back to actually move forward with the process.

I just can't figure out why Ms. Evans would actually agree to appear on this very popular show in the midst of their family crisis. Prior to her being on "Dancing with the Stars," I believe she was relatively unknown to most of us who don't follow the country music scene. I also don't understand her request for privacy for her and her family. Her divorce filing would have had a lot less publicity and attention, had she not appeared on the show and dropped this bombshell in the middle of the series.

Was Ms. Evans using the show as a way to escape from her troubles? Or, was she using the show to draw more attention to herself and expose her husband's dirty little secrets. We may never know. Written by Maria Schweitzer