LeAnn Rimes And Eddie Cibrian's Relationship Is So Strange

The pairing of a famous musician and an actor is a tale as old as time. But some courtships are more calamitous than others, as is the case with LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian. The pair has been married since 2011 and had to withstand media outrage to reach their happily ever after. When they first met on a movie set in 2008, both were married to other people. Rimes and Cibrian quickly fell in love by the time filming had wrapped and have been together ever since. 

The messy inception of their relationship has loomed over their union, and the more this couple reveals about their ongoing love life, the more eyebrows are raised. When cameras are on them, the couple appears incredibly affectionate. And yet, Rimes and Cibrian's relationship definitely seems strange at times. From wild rumors to lackluster attempts at sympathy, it's clear that LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian have an atypical relationship. 

LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian have Lifetime to thank for their coupling. They were cast alongside each other to star in the network's 2009 TV movie "Northern Lights." Filming began in 2008 and in March 2009, Us Weekly released footage of the co-stars locking lips during an intimate date together. At the time, Rimes was married to Dean Sheremet, with whom she tied the knot in 2002. Similarly, Cibrian had been married to "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" alum Brandi Glanville since 2001, with whom he had two children. While Cibrian denied the cheating rumors, both he and Rimes were separated from their spouses by the summer of 2009. Rimes and Cibrian made their first public appearance together in August 2009 and were divorced from their spouses by the end of that year. 

This incited a massive frenzy in the media. Rimes and Cibrian were subject to backlash, with much of it stemming from Glanville, who was not coy about her disapproval. She criticized Cibrian's parenting and questioned his priorities following their divorce. In 2021, Glanville reflected on the situation in an op-ed for The Sun and recalled the warning signs that her marriage was dissolving. Glanville mentioned an instance in which she became so furious with Rimes that she nearly incited violence. "I had this rage in my body. I really wanted to kill her," she wrote. Glanville concluded the article by saying that she had since forgiven Rimes, claiming, "These days, I love LeAnn." 

To mitigate the negative image that was cultivated at the start of their relationship, LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian decided to do damage control in the form of their own reality show. "LeAnn & Eddie" premiered on VH1 in 2014. The series followed the couple in their everyday life around the home they shared together, which felt like an attempt to make their partnership seem relatable and normal. But the intention backfired, as Rimes and Cibrian appeared to lean into the very rumors they claimed to despise. 

The couple was critical of the attention they received from the media, yet couldn't stop themselves making a spectacle of their relationship in front of cameras. One instance included the pair planning how they should kiss at a movie premiere, knowing it would be impossible for the tabloids to ignore. They also came off as superficial by praising each other's physical appearance and notoriety. And while they complained that Cibrian's ex-wife was giving them too much grief, they certainly didn't hesitate to throw some shade back in her direction.  

The attempt to garner positive publicity for the couple was unsuccessful. The show was canceled after a single season and still maintains poor reviews on IMDb. Dubious viewers were quick to voice their criticism, with one commenting on YouTube, "How can any woman call her husband a great husband when she got him while he was cheating with her, on his first wife???" 

A major storyline on the "LeAnn & Eddie" reality show was the prospect of whether LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian were planning to have children together. Rimes spoke about the topic several times, sharing that she and Cibrian had talked about it, and she even consulted with a fertility doctor on the series. This was following a HollywoodLife article from 2013 which reported that Rimes was intent on welcoming a child soon. An insider told the outlet, "LeAnn has been trying to get pregnant since Christmas. She wants a baby with Eddie more than anything" (via IMDb). Amid speculation that Rimes was pregnant in 2013, a rumor even emerged that she was faking a pregnancy to keep Cibrian in the marriage. Rimes denied it, telling Extra at the time, "That was interesting."   

While Rimes made it clear that the rumors of her faking a pregnancy were fabricated, she has been honest about other struggles she's had. Following the intense backlash to her coupling up with Cibrian, Rimes checked into a rehab facility in 2012 for "anxiety and stress," her rep told People. She also dealt with feelings of remorse and guilt, processing the emotions post cheating. Reflecting on the experience, Rimes said in 2020 on "The Tamron Hall Show" that checking into the facility was "the best gift I could've given myself." 

LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian just can't keep their hands off of each other. They don't seem to have any distinction between details about your sex life you should and shouldn't share with friends — in fact, they've been open about their escapades with fans, followers, and the media as well. 

Even during the early stages of their relationship, Rimes and Cibrian were comfortable sharing intimate details about their physical chemistry (regardless of their respective marriages that had freshly ended). Rimes shared a cheeky post on X (formerly Twitter) in 2011 which read, "A good friend just told me that the key to a successful marriage was to argue naked! I'm gonna do that from now on, when that rarely happens." 

During a 2014 interview with Ok!, the couple was happy to share details about their sex life. "It's very healthy," Cibrian bragged. Rimes agreed by saying, "We keep it interesting ... After this many years, I'm still enjoying it, so it's very good!" Cibrian hinted that his desire to have physical and emotional chemistry with Rimes was the reason he knew she was the one. Talking about past relationships on "Sway in the Morning" in 2014, Cibrian said, "I would always [say] 'if you want to be friends, let's be friends later, but let's hook up first.' And with her it was different ... we kind of had this connection that was undeniable."