The Lifetime Movie That Ended Two Celebrity Marriages

A Lifetime movie sparked a romance between a singer and an actor.

By Brenda Alexander

While filming a 2009 movie for Lifetime, Northern Lights, country singer LeAnn Rimes and actor Eddie Cibrian fell in love. The problem is that they were both married to other people. Lifetime is known for its dramatic films but rarely does it translate off-screen. An official logline for the film notes: "Romantic drama about a Baltimore cop who relocates to a small town in Alaska to start a new life after his partner is killed. Tormented by the thought that he may have been partly responsible for the death, the cop must put aside his personal demons to solve a high-profile murder that threatens his fledgling romance with a feisty bush pilot, whose negligent father is the deceased."

Cibrian was married to The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills staple Brandi Glanville, and Rimes was married to Dean Sheremet. The affair caused a media frenzy months before the guilty parties separated from their respective spouses in 2009. 

A source told PEOPLE at the time that Rimes and Sheremet were separated. "Le and Dean have been separated for quite some time now, but they're continuing to try and work through their relationship," Rimes' friend told the outlet at the time. They'd been married since 2007, when Rimes was only 19. And they even threw a "Seven-Year Itch" party to, as Rimes noted, "remember how blessed we are." The seven-year itch is a period of time in marriages when couples hit a rough patch. No one was expecting something that rough. 

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Glanville first confirmed that she and Cibrian were separating. "Eddie is a devoted and loving father first and foremost and the speed bump he and Brandi are experiencing needs to be worked out privately for everyone's benefit," his manager said in a statement. Initially, Rimes and Cibrian denied they were having an affair and claimed the splits from their respective spouses were a long time coming. 

Eventually, Rimes and Cibrian wed in 2011. She opened up about their decision in an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. "We all make choices that lead us into a different path, here and there, and you learn from those or you don't," Rimes said. "It obviously brought us to the place where we are now. And we're happy, and we're married. I think we have both come to a really good place in our lives. And right now, I'm really at peace."

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