Just last May, Carrie Underwood was positively gushing about her plans to build a “forever home” with her pro hockey player husband, Mike Fisher, on the couple’s stunning 400-acre ranch property near Nashville. “My must-haves are a wood-burning fireplace, a porch swing and rocking chairs,” she revealed, adding that she planned to create a special picnic area on a high ridge where the couple could spend happy days enjoying the spectacular view with their young son, Isaiah.
But it seems Carrie’s been forced to put those dreams on hold. Sources say that privately, her seven-year marriage is on very shaky ground — and that the pop-country superstar is not sure if her troubled union can last! “Between their careers, Carrie and Mike are so busy that they’re barely together — and unfortunately, their problems run much deeper than that,” claims an insider. “I believe Carrie feels Mike doesn’t see their relationship as a priority, and that he’s not putting forth the effort to make her happy and feel secure. They’re in a very vulnerable place, and their friends are worried they’ve drifted so far apart that they may not be able to find their way back together again.”
Indeed, the duo, who were last seen together in public nine months ago while vacationing in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, in July, have practically been living separate lives, sources claim.
“Carrie was on her Storyteller tour for most of last year, and after it wrapped up in November she cleared her schedule to spend more time with Mike,” the insider says. “Unfortunately, they just can’t seem to connect, and Carrie’s devastated. Hockey season kicked off in October, and Mike’s grueling schedule with the Nashville Predators has left her feeling like a lonely, abandoned sports widow. Even when he’s playing at home, Mike often likes to go out late after games with his buddies. It’s like a no-win situation.”
With that in mind, Carrie has an even greater concern, the insider claims. “She has to worry about his wandering eye — pro athletes are notorious for cheating on their wives and girlfriends with gorgeous ‘sports groupies.’ Carrie’s a devout Christian who takes her vows very seriously, and I would have to think any suspicions about Mike would eat her up inside. But leaving him is almost unimaginable because of her belief in the sanctity of marriage.”
Things are so bad, sources claim, that long-simmering resentments have been boiling over into blowout fights. But the American Idol winner, 34, and the NHL hunk, 36, who wed in 2010 after being introduced at one of her “fan meet-and-greets,” have dealt with bumps in the road for a long time. The couple reportedly clashed early on over Carrie’s reluctance to start a family, and concerns she was working so hard that she was headed for a breakdown. The relationship took a particularly hurtful turn in 2013, when rumors surfaced that Carrie was carrying on an affair with her friend, handsome country crooner Brad Paisley, himself a married father of two. “Even though there was never any proof, rumors like that have to take a toll on any relationship,” says the insider.
