Jana Kramer recalls past abuse: 'He said he was going to kill me'

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- Actress and singer Jana Kramer is opening up about her past experience with abuse.

The 32-year-old former One Tree Hill Star described the night her late first husband, Michael Gambino, attempted to kill her in a new interview with Good Morning America.

"This happened a lot. He would come home from a night out at the club and literally take me out of my bed and then throw me onto the ground," Kramer revealed. "[That night] he said he was going to kill me, he choked me, he did all those things and I was like, 'This is it.'

"When we were struggling, he was choking me, and I see everything -- I see my mom, I see my funeral -- like, Iiterally have, like, that flash of my whole life. And I just remember I screamed out my mom's name and that's the last thing I remember," she said.

Kramer and Gambino married in 2004 and divorced several months later. Gambino was convicted of the actress' attempted murder in 2005 and served five years in prison. He killed himself two years after his release.

"I remember getting the call that he committed suicide and I felt bad because my first feeling was relief that he was gone, that I didn't have to worry about him anymore," the star admitted.

Kramer, who is competing on Dancing with the Stars Season 23, addressed the abuse on Monday's episode. The singer revealed having her daughter, Jolie, helped her to cope with the experience.

"It was the worst time of my life," she said of her first marriage. "It's been a very heavy secret to hold for so many years. The situation ten years ago essentially broke me. It took having Jolie to piece together every single broken part of me."

"I never want my daughter to ever go through the things I went through, or question that she's not good enough," the actress added "And I want my daughter to know that no man should ever put their hands on her."

Kramer shares Jolie with her estranged third husband, Mike Caussin, who she claims was unfaithful. Caussin apologized in the Oct. 17 issue of People for "certain actions and behaviors" that "caused issues in [his] marriage."