Words of wisdom. Thomas Rhett credits his wife, Lauren Akins, with helping him get through the stress of the coronavirus quarantine.
“Honestly it’s been such a blessing in disguise this whole year,” Rhett, 30, told reporters at the Academy of Country Music Awards 2020 on Wednesday, September 16.
The “Die a Happy Man” singer, who took home the ACM Award for Video of the Year and tied for Entertainer for the Year with Carrie Underwood, revealed he panicked when the quarantine began. Luckily, his wife of nearly eight years was there to calm him down.
“I would say the first 30, 40 days into quarantine, I was kind of losing my mind going, ‘I need to play a show. I need to write a song. I need to do something,’” he recalled. “And then one day my wife looked at me and she said, ‘Honey, you’re not going to play a show this year. You just need to let it be, and relax and be with our family.”
Once Akins, 30, gave the “Marry Me” crooner a reality check, Rhett was able to enjoy spending so much “quality time” with his girls.
“This is the most nights in a row I’ve ever gotten to put them to bed and wake up with them,” he explained. “We’ve actually been on a road trip the last few weeks together, and it’s been absolutely amazing just to get to watch them grow up, you know?”
The Grammy nominee and his childhood love share three daughters, Willa, 4, Ada, 3, and Lennon, 7 months. Together the family has embraced the pandemic and tried to find the good.
“As crazy and as weird as this year has been, that is definitely a silver lining, just getting to watch my kids grow and getting to be intentional with my wife,” he continued. “And then tonight is just such a crazy cherry on top.”
Earlier this month, the “Beer Can’t Fix” musician opened up about his relationship with Akins, after his wife’s new book, Live in Love, detailed some rough patches in their marriage.
“There were certain parts in our marriage where I was a bit jerky, especially through the adoption — not that any of this was my fault,” Rhett said in an interview with The Bobby Bones Show in September.
He explained that during the adoption process — the pair adopted Willa in 2015 — his wife was also seven months pregnant and in Uganda. Meanwhile, he continued to perform in Nashville.
Rhett recalled a phone call he received from Akins during that time where she said, “We’re living completely separate lives right now,” which led to a “humbling” moment for the artist and the couple to seek therapy.
“Now that we’re on the other side of it, I feel like I learned so much from it. In a marriage, you just have to figure stuff out,” he said. “You’ve gotta talk about it, be real about it and be honest about it. Hopefully, there’s somebody else reading that chapter and [they] say, ‘If they can work it out, we can work it out too.’”
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