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Ne-Yo's wife Crystal Smith says she found out about their divorce from the tabloids after he announced it on a podcast before telling her.
The 34-year-old says the singer - real name Shaffer Chimere Smith - who she married in 2016, didn't even tell her he was divorcing her, and she learned about it by reading celebrity news sites.
Speaking on the Tamron Hall Show, she said: "We weren’t really talking at that time. I chose to leave the relationship because of issues, and at the time I felt like it was to get back at me or to hurt me, or whatever the case may be.
"He said that it wasn’t so I took his word for that. But it definitely didn’t feel good, it was embarrassing to say the least."
Ne-Yo, 41, made a very public statement about the divorce in February, telling podcast Private Talk with Alexis Texas: "It’s slowly but surely becoming public knowledge that myself and my wife have decided to go ahead and get a divorce.
"There’s nothing bad to say about her. She’s a fantastic woman. She’s the mother of my children and she’s always gonna be that and I will always respect her."
But he said Crystal has "demons just like everybody else", including himself.
After his comments were picked up by news outlets and Crystal read the stories, she said she decided to seek help.
She said: "I chose to go to therapy and to start working on my pain and my issues and everything I was dealing with internally.
"I feel like that was the right step for me to get past it, so whether we were going to be together or not, I had to heal for myself so I could get up and perform for my kids."
The pair share two children, Shaffer Jr and Roman, and Ne-Yo is also dad to Mason and Madilyn, who he shares with ex Monyetta Shaw.
Ne-Yo and Crystal later reconciled after he admitted he didn't want to get divorced and they made amends.
They quarantined together and announced their marriage was back on in June.
He told host Tamron: "I was really, really broken up about it, but I felt like I couldn’t show that to the world. My pride wouldn’t allow me to show that to her initially. But I think she kind of knew where I was at.
"… So I’m not about to waste what could potentially be maybe our last moments together not together. I’m not doing it. I’m going where my home is, I’m going where my heart is. And that was it."
Mirror Online has contacted Ne-Yo's representatives for comment.
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