Wearing a chunky gold cross necklace, flirty fringe boots and a gray off-the-shoulder jersey top, LeAnn Rimes looked like she didn’t have a care in the world the night of her 30th birthday in Malibu. Holding hands with her husband, Eddie Cibrian, the couple ordered sushi and wine and had animated dinner dialogue throughout their dinner. Cut to one day later: Rimes checks herself into a treatment facility for anxiety and stress.

Appearances are deceiving.

Rimes may appear to be a bubbly blonde starlet, but below the surface, she’s tortured with guilt and consumed with anxiety regarding her relationship with Cibrian. Entering a 30 day in-patient treatment facility, she is, according to her publicist, “simply there to learn and develop coping mechanisms.”

It all started on the set of a Lifetime movie, where Rimes, then married, and Cibrian, also married with children, fell for each other while filming steamy scenes in Canada. It wasn’t the first time co-stars had hooked up on the set of a movie, but for this music superstar and country’s sweetheart, it marked a decidedly different direction for her personal life and career.

A source close to Rimes believes that the singer and musician feels strongly that “the public never forgave her (for the indiscretion).” The events that followed the affair: the end of two marriages, speculation about Cibrian’s future fidelity, anorexia rumors and a struggle with psoriasis, as well as Twitter wars with Cibrian’s ex, Brandi Glanville, all of which have have taken its toll on Rimes.

The singer, whose career as a country crooner has turned into more of a bikini-wearing-paparazzi show, acknowledges that she made mistakes when it came to freeing herself from a young marriage. She said she hadn’t learned the proper way to “let go” of things, namely, a stale union.

Kristin Stewart, the latest media darling caught in a maelstrom of public scrutiny, has rarely left her house since news of her on-set affair with a married director broke. She’s been rumored to be overdosing on booze, under-eating, binge eating and hating herself. She’s been called a “trampire” and her publicist team is reportedly terrified that her image as a “homewrecker” will be the end of her image as the “lucky girlfriend of Robert Pattinson.”

All of Rimes’ and Stewart”s strife for following their hearts into the arms of a married man begs a few questions. Are women vilified more than men for their cheating escapades? Do women lash out and “punish” themselves physically for affairs when there are actually two people involved in the discretion? Do women take the heat for “homewrecking?”

 

Amy Spagnola lives in Broomfield, Colorado and never gets tired of coconut frozen yogurt. She seeks style scores wherever she travels—including Iceland, Egypt, Russia and Venezuela. She holds a Master’s degree in journalism and loves playing Lois Lane when she’s not in yoga class or showing off her ping pong skills.