AceShowbiz - The editor-in-chief of fitness magazine Shape has apologized to readers for putting singer LeAnn Rimes on the October cover of the publication. Valerie Latona has called the decision to publish bikini shots and an interview with Rimes, who split from husband Dean Sheremet in 2009 following an affair with married actor Eddie Cibrian, a "terrible mistake".

In an email sent to some readers and obtained by TooFab.com, the editor wrote, "Please know that our putting her on the cover was not meant to put a husband-stealer on a pedestal, but to show (through her story) how we all are human. And this woman in particular found strength in exercise in what she said was her most difficult personal moment."

"It did not come across that way... and for that I'm terribly sorry. I hope that we can do better the next time for those of you that will give us another chance." The email comes after many Shape readers complained about the cover story.