Sara Evans Reveals She and Husband Jay Barker Are Back Together After Divorce, 2022 Arrest: ‘We’re So Happy Now’

It’s been more than two years since Sara Evans’ husband Jay Barker was arrested for alleged assault, and the country star is finally ready to update fans on the status of their relationship.

Evans, 53, revealed during the first episode of her new podcast, Deep Diving with Sara Evans, on Thursday that she and Barker have reconciled and are officially giving their marriage another shot after she filed for divorce in August 2021.

“We’re so happy now, but I don’t want anyone to think I’m advocating staying in a relationship where you ever, in your gut, know you need to get out of a situation,” she said. “Every woman must follow her instinct and do what is best for her. I believe and hope that I have done that.”

The release of Evans’ new podcast coincides with the announcement of her upcoming album Unbroken, which is out June 7 and is her first album of new material in seven years. The record, backed by the first single “Pride”, chronicles her difficult journey with Barker, from their first breakup to their eventual reconciliation.

The episode also marks the first time Evans has spoken publicly about Barker’s January 2022 arrest, during which he was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after allegedly attempting to hit a car Evans was riding in with his own car. Barker, 51, pleaded “best interest” to a misdemeanor charge of reckless endangerment in June 2022 and was reportedly given one year of probation.

Jay Barker and Sara Evans at the CMA Awards in Nashville in November 2019. Taylor Hill/Getty

In the podcast, Evans describes the night of his arrest, explaining that she and Barker — who split for the first time in April 2021 after marrying in 2008 — met for lunch earlier that day and got into a verbal argument “because he’s not up to it. ”

Later that night, Evans and one of her daughters went across the street to a friend’s house for a bonfire while Barker blasted her phone with text messages blaming her for the demise of their relationship, she said. When she left the bonfire, Barker was waiting outside the house.

Country singer Sara Evans is ‘more than grateful’ for her daughter’s engagement

Sarah Evans.

Andy Baxter

“It really scared me, and it scared all of us, especially my child who was with me,” she said in the podcast. “So I was driven by our friend. We were about to pull into the driveway, and… [Barker] had a verbal conflict with my child, who never saw that side of him, never. And that scared her to death.”

Evans continued, “That’s when he jumped into his truck, and he [was] some kind of very high speed backup. I knew Jay, so I didn’t feel the same as my child. My child thought he was going to plow into our car, that he was backing into our car, and that she was going to see something horrible, or at the very least, an accident, which would be his truck hitting my side of the car, which I was in. front seat. She was terrified.”

The “Suds in the Bucket” singer said her daughter called 911 and officers eventually arrived after Barker, a radio host and former professional football player, fled.

Evans said the incident was particularly shocking for her daughter, as she had struggled to hide Barker’s violent behavior from her children for years. (Evans has daughters Audrey, 19, and Olivia, 21, and son Avery, 24, with ex-husband Craig Schelske, though she said Barker raised her children.)

After Barker left the scene, Evans said she tried to call and text him to let him know police had shown up, but was unable to reach him and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Barker eventually returned home and was arrested and spent the night in jail.

Sara Evans at the CMA Awards in Nashville in November 2023.

Jason Kempin/Getty

“I felt so embarrassed and so stupid and my child was so angry. But you know she was standing there thinking, ‘He’s about to hit my mom with a truck.’ I don’t know how close he got to be honest, and I don’t know how it looks to her. But I heard her screaming so loud,” Evans said. “I really didn’t think he was trying to hit our car. I think he was trying to get back as fast as he could to see who I was in the car with, to see if I was with another man. And my kid thought, ‘He’s going to run into them.'”

Evans said that after Barker’s arrest, she turned off all comments on her Instagram and spent the next week sitting on the couch with her three children, unable to function.

“I just kept getting call after call after call after call, and I said, ‘I can’t believe this is happening to me and my kids again. I lost the love of my life,’ she said. “He’s just beautiful, he’s funny, we have so much in common. We feel the same way about everything, raising children, family structures, politics, religion, everything. We just love each other. We are best friends.”

Sara Evans (right) and her daughter Audrey (left) at the CMA Awards in Nashville in November 2023.

Jason Davis/WireImage

Their journey together began a few months later, when Evans, then on tour, received a text from Barker that read: “Everyone says I shouldn’t contact you, but you’re still my wife.” The message touched the singer and soon she and Barker gradually re-established communication.

“Many women will judge me and want to judge me. When he said, ‘But you’re still my wife,’ I don’t know. I just melted because I thought, ‘I’m still your wife and we can talk if we want to. We’re both adults,’” she recalled on the podcast. “So I texted him back and I think I just said something short and sweet like, ‘How are you? I’m on my way’ and somehow we tiptoed back to each other.”

Just as she kept Barker’s abuse a secret from her children, she kept quiet about their reconciliation, although she set certain ground rules: therapy and marriage counseling.

Sara Evans breaks down in tears — then jokingly declines — when asked to join Grand Ole Opry: ‘There’s no way I’d say no’

“I just didn’t want to get divorced again and start over,” she said. “I just imagined myself alone and missing him and thought, ‘We could have tried harder.’ But it took me filing for divorce, I think, for him to realize, ‘Oh…she’s serious. That’s it.’… Some people have problems in their marriages that are like fighting all the time. We didn’t fight all the time. He fought with me. When he was in low positions, he fought against me, pushed me away, pushed my love away. So, every situation is different. I would never encourage anyone to stay in a dangerous situation.”

Evans said her daughter was a tough nut to crack, but that “a few long, really tough discussions” between her and Barker mended fences.

“She said, ‘You have such small shoes to fill.’ And he failed. And that killed him,” Evans said. “But we are all Christians and I taught my children to forgive… My three children forgave him and we are all together again. We thank God every day that we did not part.”

The singer claims Barker has changed, calling him “a completely different person” and explaining that she is now “happier than I’ve ever been”.

Jay Barker and Sara Evans at the CMT Artists of the Year Celebration in Nashville in November 2011.

Rick Diamond/Getty

Elsewhere on the podcast, Evans explained the origins of their marital problems, saying that shortly after their wedding, Barker realized she was “very submissive,” which he “took advantage of.” She said things took a turn for the worse in the summer of 2020 and a “terrible” row that July was the breaking point for the couple.

“I think I started to understand: ‘We are being abused. We use abuse in marriage.’ And I didn’t want to admit it,” she said. “And I don’t think he saw it that way.”

She explained that initial attempts at counseling were unsuccessful, as Barker was “putting everything” on her, and she had to force herself to take steps to file for divorce, even though she didn’t want to. Court records obtained by PEOPLE show the divorce was officially dismissed in February 2023.

Sarah Evans.

Andy Baxter

Upcoming episodes of Evans’ podcast will cover topics like marriage, divorce, domestic abuse, body image, motherhood, music and more, and she’ll talk with family, friends, celebrities and experts in a variety of fields.

“I’m a big fan of podcasts and I can’t get enough of them,” she said in a statement. “I’ve always had a lot to say and wanted to start my own podcast for the longest time. With everything that’s been going on in my life the past few years, I felt like now was the perfect time to start letting it all in and be more open and vulnerable than ever before.”

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or go to thehotline.org. All calls are free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education