She’s considered one of the sweetest stars in country music, but Carrie Underwood isn’t just a pretty little thang! She’s tough, she’s opinionated and she secretly despises fellow country singer LeAnn Rimes.
Carrie’s long-held hostility toward LeAnn emerged prior to shooting a live performance at the CMA Country Christmas Special on Nov. 7 (which aired Dec. 1). A set insider reveals that the Oklahoma native made an angry demand when she found out that LeAnn’s dressing room was right next to hers. “She immediately had her people call the organizers to get her room switched,” the insider says. “Carrie can’t stand LeAnn. When they see each other, she puts on a friendly front, but she thinks LeAnn is desperate, unoriginal and a has-been. And LeAnn has no idea how Carrie really feels.”
The distaste Carrie has for LeAnn goes back to 2006, soon after the American Idol winner beat out Faith Hill for Female Vocalist of the Year at the CMAs. LeAnn, who was already an established recording artist after years in the business, was asked about Carrie at the time and quipped, “To see someone come in and win female vocalist that has been here fora very short time is a little disheartening.”
That statement stung Carrie, and she’s never forgotten it. “LeAnn’s remarks were a huge slap in the face,” a source close to Carrie tells Star. “Carrie saw it as a shallow and shameful welcome into the industry and showed LeAnn’s true colors. She’s waited eight years for an apology and has never gotten one. Carrie holds grudges. When they see each other out and at events, LeAnn acts like nothing ever happened, but Carrie will never forget.”
Perhaps was instigated the original comment was jealous: At least that’s what a source close to Carrie speculates, saying, “For so long, LeAnn was the only one who could belt out those high notes, and that was quickly taken from her as soon as Carrie entered the world of country music.”
Either way, Carrie believes her poor opinion of her country colleague was confirmed when LeAnn was caught cheating on her first husband with current husband Eddie Cibrian, who was also cheating on his wife, in 2009. “Carrie was disgusted and couldn’t believe she’d destroy a marriage,” the source says. “She is very religious and thinks that LeAnn’s appalling homewrecking confirmed everything she’d suspected in the first place.”
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