'Dancing with the Stars' third-season alum Sara Evans engaged

Sara Evans was apparently able to put her bitter divorce battle behind her and move onto a new beau.


The Dancing with the Stars third-season celebrity participant is engaged to former University of Alabama quarterback Jay Barker, Evans representative Lori Genes told People on Monday.

"The couple are enjoying their engagement and look forward to their upcoming nuptials," Genes told People, adding the couple has yet to set a wedding date.

Evans and Barker -- who hosts The Opening Drive on WJOX, a Birmingham, AL radio station -- began dating before last Thanksgiving, less than two months after her divorce from Craig Schelske was finally finalized.

Evans competed in Dancing with the Stars Fall 2006 third season with professional partner Tony Dovolani before she unexpectedly decided to quit only hours after she filed for divorce from Schelske, her husband of thirteen years.  She alleged he was having an affair with their nanny and using pornography. 


However the day prior to her divorce filing, police were called to a Los Angeles eatery following an argument between Evans and Schelske.  In previous court filings, Schelske claimed the tiff stemmed from his learning of Evans' "intimate relationship" with Dovolani.

Their divorce was expected to be finalized in February 2007, but Evans eventually filed a motion accusing Schelske of stalling the proceedings unless she fired her attorney and issued a televised statement denying her original allegations about his alleged adultery and pornography use. 

In April, he filed a $20 million slander suit against one of Evans' divorce lawyers, claiming the attorney slandered him by telling "untruths" in the media.

Schelske filed a 118-page court document in September requesting Evans admit to alleged affairs with nearly a dozen people, including Dovolani. 

But included in the divorce settlement was an agreement that the couple drop the pending allegations against one another.  In addition, Evans was ordered to pay Schelske $600,000 in alimony and allow him to keep their two Oregon homes while she got to retain possession of their Nashville residence. 


Evans and Schelske had three children together, while Barker has four children from a previous marriage.  She is currently in the midst of a cross-country tour.






About The Author: Christopher Rocchio