Evans divorcing, not dancing

Country singer Sara Evans is divorcing and will sit out the remaining dances on ABC’s hit “Dancing With the Stars,” one of the highest-rated reality shows this fall.

Evans, one of six final couples in the ballroom dance competition that pairs celebrities with professional dancers, filed for divorce last week from her husband of 13 years, Craig Schelske, a Republican fundraiser. Evans told the show’s producers about her decision last week, but the network won’t comment on how it’s going to manage the absence of the 35-year--old Tennessean, who was recently nominated for female vocalist of the year by the Country Music Assn.

In September, former Republican Congressman Tom DeLay urged his supporters to back Evans in the competition, noting in a widely distributed e-mail that the singer who performed at the 2004 Republican National Convention was up against “ultra-liberal talk show host Jerry Springer.”

“We need to send a message to Hollywood and the media that smut has no place on television by supporting good people like Sara Evans,” DeLay wrote.