Why Kenny Rogers’ Marriage to His Fourth Wife, Marianne Gordon, Ended

Kenny Rogers’ last marriage was to his fifth wife, Wanda Miller. Before that, he was married to Janice Gordon, Jean Rogers, Margo Anderson, and Marianne Gordon. Here’s the real reason Kenny Rogers’ marriage to Marianne Gordon ended in divorce.

How Kenny Rogers and Marianne Gordon met

Rogers met his fourth wife, Marianne Gordon, during his time on the television series Hee Haw. Gordon was in the middle of a divorce from a producer at the late Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Productions (Michael Trikilis). It was an amicable divorce, and Rogers and Trikilis became friends.

In his autobiography, Luck or Something Like It, Rogers said one thing he loved about Gordon was that she accepted him even when he wasn’t making a lot of money. “She was a true blessing,” wrote Rogers. “At a time in my life that I didn’t have a penny to my name, along came a woman who did not seem to care about any of that. Marianne even ended up loaning me money for child support payments.”

Why Kenny Rogers’ fourth marriage ended

Unlike his earlier marriages, Rogers said he didn’t know why things didn’t work out between him and Gordon. He attributed the ending of his prior relationships to his obsession with music, but this time he was at a loss. “There are reasons marriages end, but I’m not sure what happened between Marianne and me,” wrote Rogers.

Rogers faced a lot of pressure to be part of a flawless celebrity marriage. He said media outlets painted him and Gordon as a picture-perfect couple. “We were the American dream couple, or so People magazine and Hollywood tabloids kept telling us,” said Rogers in his book. “It was something we never promoted or asked for.”

Kenny Rogers said he enjoyed his marriage to Marianne Gordon

Rogers and Gordon didn’t work out, but that didn’t affect his view of the marriage. He said he enjoyed his time with Gordon. “We were two people who had enjoyed making my career together and raising our young son, Christopher,” said Rogers. “I enjoyed the years spent with her family, and I believe she enjoyed the time spent with mine.”

Although Rogers enjoyed his marriage, he said he and Gordon began to drift apart. He didn’t know what caused the shift, but he noticed something was different between them. “Something was changing—as I say, it was hard to explain—and we were growing apart by 1992,” said Rogers.

After the divorce, Kenny Rogers said he wanted some adventure

Rogers said he needed excitement after being married for more than 15 years. This led to him to having explicit conversations with women over the phone. “I was separated and going through my divorce with Marianne, and for one fleeting moment, I had an epiphany,” said Rogers. “I realized I could do things now that I had not done nor had wanted to do for 15 years or longer.”

Unfortunately, the women he spoke to decided to sue him for harassment. This situation turned into a phone-sex scandal that followed the country singer until the end of his career. Rogers said the incident wasn’t about sex, but about having fun without a guilty conscience.

“It was never really about having sex with other women, as much as it was that I could now think about it with a clear conscience and no guilt,” said Rogers. “That was very exciting to me.”

Read more: The Sad Way Kenny Rogers’ First Marriage Ended

Follow Sheiresa @SheiresaNgo