CMT News

In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Kenny Chesney said he "panicked" after marrying actress Renee Zellweger in 2005. He appeared Friday (April 9) on Winfrey's syndicated talk show to promote his new film, Kenny Chesney: Summer in 3-D, but the conversation took on a more personal tone when the talk show host asked, "Do you have enough time for a relationship? Is that why your relationship with Renee Zellweger failed?" Chesney replied, "One of them. That and the fact that I panicked. .... I panicked about it a lot." He then explained, "I look at my life as a box, musically anyway. ... I learned how to play guitar and put that in the box. The friends I made, I put in that box. My career grew. And everything around me -- all of the awards and all of the songs I wrote and all the success and everything -- I put that in that box. And that box built and grew into this wonderful house. And you protect everything and all the relationships and all the people that helped you build that house. You protect it. ... That's what happened. I protected that box. I didn't know if I could do both." The marriage was annulled after four months. Winfrey asked, "So where was the marriage -- in the box or out of the box?" Indicating that it was the latter, Chesney gave a hearty laugh and then said, "It's tough. It really is tough. And she's a sweet soul, no doubt about it, but I just wasn't ready."