Ever since actor Dean Cain's ex-fiancee Mindy McCready killed herself, he suddenly thinks he's relevant again -- and he's milking it by talking smack about the clearly troubled singer.

Cain, who was engaged to McCready for a year in 1997, echoed fellow ex Billy McKnight's sentiments that her passing wasn't a surprise, but took it upon himself to go a few steps further than just remarking on her untimely death.

"I can't paint too pretty a picture," he told PEOPLE about their relationship. "She would start arguments, start drama. Things weren't allowed to be good."

Seems a little hypocritical that he'd dive right into the drama of her passing so soon, but whatever.

"She was never abusive or addictive with me, but red flags were everywhere," he added. "I saw all the bad signs and told her to get out ... everything she did was a manipulation of sorts. She would just get combative."

"When I did speak to her, truth didn't come out," he continued. "She was kind of poisonous and not somebody I was going to have in my life anymore -- or anywhere around my son."

"My first thought was of the poor kids. To think about the legacy those boys have been left, it's just tragic," he lamented. "All her troubles were self-inflicted. She had everything. She was a tremendous talent but everything about it was a waste."

For her part, McCready moved on from the split long ago; in fact, the death of her fiancee David Wilson shortly before her own suicide devastated her to the point of being a possible motive.

We somewhat respect Cain's candor and lack of BS'ing about McCready -- but out of respect for her memory, for the kids that he claims to pity so much and for those who loved her, a simple "no comment" would have both gotten the point across and sounded a lot more tactful and classy.

Unfortunately for Cain, though, it also would have reminded the world of his irrelevance post-'Lois and Clark.' Here's hoping the PR was worth the crappy karma.

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