Sara Evans Thought “DWTS” Judges 'Hated' Her for Following Partner Tony Dovolani's 'Conservative' Choreography

"I also thought maybe it's something like they want to be mean to me so that all my fans will come to my defense," the country singer speculated of the judges’ feedback

Nearly two decades after appearing on Dancing with the Stars, country star Sara Evans is looking back on her experience competing for the mirrorball.

On the latest episode of Cheryl Burke’s Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans podcast, Evans, 53, shared that she thought her partner Tony Dovolani’s choreography hurt her chances on the ABC dance competition show.

“Tony was conservative in his choreography, you know, so I felt that that hurt me a lot because they would always say, you know, you're just too rigid, you're too [conservative] and I'm like, well, I'm just doing what I'm told,” she said. “I'm just doing what I'm told. I don't know what to do.”

Related: Cheryl Burke Says She Had to 'Fight' to Get Her Farewell Dance on Dancing with the Stars

“I mean, if you want me to come out and sing 'Suds in the Bucket', I will, but you know, the dancing part, I don't know,” she continued.

Evans said she believed the judges “hated” her from “the very beginning," and added, “I also thought maybe it's something like they want to be mean to me so that all my fans will come to my defense.”

The singer made to sixth place on season 3 of Dancing with the Stars before she ultimately withdrew from the competition amid her divorce from ex-husband Craig Schelske.

Related: Cheryl Burke Theorizes Why She Wasn’t Invited Back to DWTS for Len Goodman Tribute: 'Some People May Not Be Happy'

On an episode of her podcast Diving in Deep earlier this month, she referred to the turbulent period as a “really, really, really horrific time” in her life.

“I would be on Dancing with the Stars, and you could see some of the episodes, my eyes were just blood red swollen because I’d been crying the whole day, missing my kids,” she shared.

The “Suds in the Bucket” singer said her marriage began to fall apart about six months before she signed on to Dancing with the Stars, and she knew she “needed to get out of the marriage,” even though she “didn’t believe in divorce.”

In order to film in the show, she temporarily moved to Beverly Hills with her kids Avery, 24, Olivia, 21, and Audrey, 19, and a nanny, while Schelske remained in Oregon, but would come down to Los Angeles on the days the show was taping.

“He wanted to be at every episode and come down here and be seen on TV, on camera, and also at the same time, he was trying to make a case against me to show that I was working and not being a good mom,” she alleged on the podcast.

Related: Cheryl Burke Spills on the Number of Dancing With the Stars Showmances She's Had — and Reveals 1 By Name!

Eventually, she reached her limit and called divorce attorneys in Nashville. After an alleged incident while out to dinner at The Grove shopping center, in which Dovolani had to step in to help defuse a tense situation with Schelske, Evans filed for divorce on Oct. 12, 2006.

“I had to quit Dancing with the Stars because the next day we were going to start the group dance rehearsals and because of the trauma that my children went through at the restaurant, I said, ‘I’m quitting,’” she recalled.

Though the star was still contractually bound to the show, she was allowed out of her contract if she agreed to give an interview explaining the circumstances.

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“I remember having to go in hair and makeup and sit in some hotel room and do this interview with Tony Dovolani, and without telling the details… explain that my kids were traumatized and I’m not leaving them for five seconds, and so I have to quit the show,” she said. “I probably would have won!”

Evans — who is now married to Jay Barker — sat for a pre-taped interview with then-host Tom Bergeron, which aired on Oct. 17, 2006. In the interview, she said she “would have had a nervous breakdown” had she not withdrawn from the competition, and that an undisclosed incident “was very hard for my children.”

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