lrimescibrian101510_14_X17230WMmakeup.jpgTwo years after ending her marriage with Dean Sheremet, LeAnn Rimes is opening up about how she felt once her affair with Eddie Cibrian went public.

Rimes, 28, and Cibrian, 37, hooked up on the set of Lifetime's 2009 TV movie Northern Lights. At the time, she was still married to Sheremet. As for Cibrian, he was still married to Brandi Glanville ... the mother of his two children.

In an upcoming special called Backstory: LeAnn Rimes on the Great American Country channel, the country singer admits:

    "I know I didn't do it the right way ... I didn't have the tools to know how to do it the right way, how to let go the right way. I'd never been taught that."


When asked how she felt once the media got wind of her affair, Rimes adds:

    "I think I felt abandoned ... I think abandoned is a really good word -- because of our divorce. Not only that, our divorce became so much bigger because it was publicized."


Find out when the special airs ... after the jump.