Beverly Hills, Calif. — LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian have been the subject of gossip since news of their affair first broke in 2009.
But Rimes and Cibrian want to debunk the headlines and lies in their upcoming VH1 show LeAnn & Eddie.
“I think that we definitely hit on the tabloid fodder because that’s what surrounded our lives so much in the last five years,” said Rimes Friday during the TCA Press Tour show panel. “Everyone views our lives as entertainment and so we wanted to actually kind of take our life back and have fun with our story and with where we are now.”
Rimes and Cibrian met on the set of Northern Lights while both were married to other people — Rimes to Dean Sheremet and Cibrian to Brandi Glanville. Their relationship resulted in the very public break up of their marriages.
“I think now is just the time to … have fun and take that whole story back because it is ours,” said Rimes, who explained that they coped with the fallout through laughter. “It’s not everyone else’s to twist and turn and spread lies about. So this is the first time you really are seeing who we are.”
Cibrian added that the show “gives us an opportunity to have fun and have a show together.”
But they were quick to say that the show is not a platform for them to fire back at anybody specifically, though they will talk about their exes and Cibrian’s two children — who won’t appear in the series — if they come up in conversation.
“There’s nothing in the show that was not truth or is not funny or a way that we would normally react in real life,” said Rimes.
“We’re not taking shots,” added Cibrian.
Other highlights from the panel included:
—Cibrian on how long the show will last: “I guess that’s up to the tabloids. If they want to stop writing about us, then we won’t have to set the record straight anymore.”
—Rimes joked when asked about the show Tori & Dean, which documented the breakdown of Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott’s marriage, that “we wanted to ruin our marriage so we really, that’s why we went into this.” Cibrian added on a more serious note that “there’s different types obviously of unscripted shows…You can go that route that you said or you can go a completely different route. The route that we wanted to take was totally new.”
—The pair talked about their two very different backgrounds. Cibrian’s parents are Cuban and he grew up in California, while Rimes is from the South. Cibrian said: “I’ve always been fascinated by this cowboy mystique that she kind of grew up around. Her dad is as southern as southern gets. You’ve never seen someone manhandle a horse or a steer. This guy could rope you from 50 yard out…He’s so cool.” Rimes added: “My dad always knew that I’d end up with the pretty boy from California.”
—VH1 programming head Susan Levison on LeAnn & Eddie: “When LeAnn and Eddie came into us and wanted to do a show that was a comedic yet honest look at their lives, we knew that our viewers would really respond to opening their doors and seeing what would really happen. I also selfishly myself wanted the answers. So I’m always programming a little bit for myself. But it’s a great fit for VH1.”
