Jana Kramer Says She and Ex-Husband Mike Caussin Have ‘More Respect’ for Each Other Post-Divorce Than They Did in Their Marriage
Making progress! Jana Kramer revealed that she and ex-husband Mike Caussin are killing it at coparenting — and work better as a team now than they did when they were married.
“[Mike] and I have a great relationship, you know, everything is good,” Kramer, 39, said during the Sunday, June 4, episode of her “Whine Down” podcast. “When stuff does come up, we’re like, ‘Hey, can we kind of talk this out?’ We still have our moments where we get frustrated but we’re able to communicate in such better way now, so that’s been nice. We’ve had more respect out of our marriage than in our marriage.”
The One Tree Hill alum — who announced her engagement to fiancé Allan Russell last month — shares daughter Jolie, 7, and son Jace, 4, with Caussin, 36. The twosome finalized their divorce in 2021 after splitting due to the former NFL star's repeated infidelity. (Kramer also previously tied the knot with Michael Gambino in 2004, Johnathon Schaech in 2010 and was engaged to Brantley Gilbert in 2013.)
While the country crooner told her podcast cohosts on Sunday that she “never” thought she’d “get to the other side” with Caussin— and that there are still “deep resentments” between them — they’ve been able to move past their issues to put their children first.
“I let go of a lot of things and just look at him as the father of my kids,” she explained. “I don’t want any bad energy. I just don’t want it. I don’t want hatred, I don’t want heaviness. [Life is] too short.”
Kramer noted that even with “hurt," the two “can coparent” amicably at the end of the day — including sharing space for their little one’s milestone moments. “If it’s going to make my kid happy to have his dad here for his birthday party I’m going to invite him over. Put my stuff aside,” she said. (The twosome reunited for daughter Jolie's dance recital in February.)
The duo have worked hard at making strides in their relationship, which Kramer previously told Us Weekly in February 2022 was "not fabulous."
"It's one of those things where, hopefully, in time, we can [get along]," the "I Got the Boy" singer exclusively told Us at the time. "We're doing an OK job. I'll just say this: I'm doing my part in what I can do to be a good coparent, and ... he has to deal with his own side of things. If he doesn't want to be good at coparenting, that's his thing."
When it comes to her personal life these days, Kramer has moved on with Russell, 42. The couple met via Instagram in late 2022 before the soccer star got down on one knee last month.
“He said my name and I [stood up] and he got down on one knee and then Jolie just started jumping up and down. It was the cutest thing ever,” the singer gushed during an episode of her “Whine Down With Jana Kramer" podcast in May. “Like, she knew what was happening [before he said anything]. She was like, ‘You’re getting married!’ And then, I kind of blacked out at that point.”
As for Caussin’s reaction to her engagement, Kramer shared that she told him via FaceTime — and he couldn’t be happier for her.
“He was like, ‘Hey, I’m really happy for you. Allan’s a great guy,'” she recalled. “Actually, I started to cry because he goes, ‘Of all people, you deserve to have someone that loves you and respects you and you deserve this.’ He’s like, ‘After everything I put you through, you deserve this more than anyone.’ It meant so much to me that he said that.”
Russell, for his part, revealed that “didn’t look into” Kramer “too much” when they first connected — and “didn’t judge her” for her romantic past.
“I didn’t do a background check. Once, I looked up who she was, I knew about [her] being an actress and in the music industry and that she looked like an amazing mom and had a couple of amazing kids,” he continued “I don’t judge Jana on anything from the past. I don’t judge anyone on anything from the past as long as they show up for me and the people that I love and the people that are important to me. It shows that have grown from any sort of decisions or mistakes that might have been made in the past. And for me, that’s attractive, and it’s just one of the many things that is hugely attractive about Jana — how she has had all these upsets in the past but she moves forward. She’s a little warrior and that’s attractive.”
