After 13 years of marriage to Craig Schelske, Evans found herself in a messy divorce in 2006 that forced her to drop out of Dancing with The Stars. The following year, Evans’ minister, who she was going to for counseling after her divorce, connected her with another recent divorcee…Jay Barker.
“He told us he’d never known two people more alike,” she told AL.com. “He felt we could at least be supportive friends.”
Evans, based in Nashville at the time, went out on a date with Barker. The couple immediately connected, and it was clear they had found something special. They even started spending time together as a group with their children from their previous relationships.
“We would get together with our kids as ‘just friends,’ ” Barker recalls. “Before long, they told us we should be dating.”
