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Even though she didn't mention him by name, Jana Kramer had an emotional conversation with the daughter of her first husband, who did prison time for her attempted murder, revealing he had a "switch that would just go from nice to evil within moments."
Jana Kramer is opening up about the abuse she experienced with her first husband.
During the Wednesday, October 29, episode of her iHeartRadio podcast, Whine Down, the One Tree Hill star had a deeply emotional and candid conversation with the daughter of a man who did prison time for abusing her, as covered by Us Weekly.
Kramer, 41, welcomed Britanny Qualls as a guest to discuss the decades-old abuse Qualls' father was convicted of perpetrating against Kramer. According to an Instagram post, Qualls reached out to her after she opened up about domestic violence on Dancing with the Stars. Kramer didn't know she even existed.
Although neither Kramer nor Qualls said the name of the man in question, Kramer has been open about the abuse she suffered at the hands of first husband Michael Gambino, who she married in 2004 at the age of 19. Gambino was convicted of attempted murder against Kramer and served six years in prison. He was released on parole in 2010 and committed suicide two years later.
As the conversation progressed, Qualls said she saw her father's mug shot in People magazine, who wrote about Kramer and Gambino's marriage. The pair also talked about the man dying by suicide, and Kramer's marriage to him at a young age.
The conversation began with an immediate and tearful apology from the actress and country singer.
"I know it's my story, but this is also your story, and I do want to apologize," Kramer told Qualls. "It's got to be hard having someone that you don't know speak about someone that is your father, and so I apologize if that's ever been something that’s been challenging for you to walk through."
She continued, "I don't know what that feels like to have someone talk about someone that … you've never met me, you know, and like someone that you've also never met too."
Kramer also discussed about the hot-and-cold personality traits of her first husband.
"One minute he would be kind and everyone loved him," Kramer said of Gambino. "My parents loved him, which made me think that I was the crazy one. … He would have this, like, switch that would just go from nice to evil within moments."
Qualls was quick to offer comfort, assuring Kramer that an apology "is not needed whatsoever" and that she was not to blame for her father's actions.
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"At the end of the day, this person was my father," Qualls said. "Even though I didn’t know him, and I’ve known all the bad things, I think you hope there’s some good in there, but you know there’s not. I guess I’ve always been hopeful that someone would say something good. I’ve learned to be ok with that."
Qualls went on to explain that she learned of her father’s past actions after seeing his mugshot in an issue of People, which was really difficult for her to process and accept.
"It’s definitely not something you thought one day it would be, like, in public or anything," Qualls said. "I think when I heard it for the first time, I was like, 'No, that’s not my dad,' and then hearing more from other people, it kind of weighs heavy on you a little bit because you go through the whys."
Despite her father's dubious reputation, Qualls says she's managed to live a full life and chooses not to associate herself with his actions.
"I believe that I am not him, and his actions aren’t me," she continued. "At the end of the day, I am who I make myself be, and whatever he did is not who I am."
But there is one good thing that came from Gambino — and Kramer sees it inside of Qualls.
“I just have to say, you are the most beautiful piece of him,” Kramer said. “You’re beautiful. … I just really appreciate you coming on, reaching out and being persistent enough to put the pieces together for you. I think that says a lot about you and who you are.”
Kramer is currently married to Allan Russel, who appeared in an episode of Whine Down last year to talk about how he feels about his wife doing sex scenes.
