Thomas Rhett’s wife, Lauren Akins, revealed that her marriage wasn’t always as picture-perfect as it’s looked.
Thomas and Lauren have been part of each other’s lives since they were teenagers. The two dated when they were 15, but “it didn’t work out,” as many young relationships don’t. Despite breaking up, they “remained best friends.”
When they were 20, they had “a total Ryan Gosling moment” that sealed the deal forever.
“I’d loved that girl since high school, and I told her father how I felt,” Thomas told Hits Daily Double in 2019. “He said, ‘If you don’t tell her, I’m going to’… I said to her, ‘I just want to kiss you one time. If you don’t feel anything, we can go back to being friends.’ “
Seven months later, Thomas asked Lauren to be his wife, and another ten months later, they said, “I do.”
Thomas Rhett and Lauren Akins enjoyed their newlywed phase for four years before deciding to expand their family after Lauren met her now-daughter, Willa Gray, during a mission trip in Uganda.
In a short film titled Lauren Akins – This Wasn’t The Plan, Lauren shared that her path to motherhood was tough and drove a wedge between her and her husband.
Thomas Rhett And His Wife Embarked On A Two-Day “Intensive Counseling Session”
With Thomas Rhett on tour, Lauren worked through an “intense” 13-month adoption process alone. During that time, she learned she was pregnant with their daughter Ada, which came as a complete surprise.
“I was getting sick and throwing up like 50-something times a day,” she said. “The whole time, I was missing my husband. I started to resent him a little bit because he was back in America touring.”
Fortunately, Lauren’s parents stepped in and helped bring their new granddaughter home. But Lauren had no time to adjust to her new life. Three months “to the day” that Willa “came home,” Lauren went into labor with Ada.
“It kinda felt like we went from zero to two pretty quick as parents,” she continued.
The couple and their two children went on the road to join Thomas on tour. And Lauren began to struggle when all the responsibilities landed on her.
“His life went on, and I feel like mine stopped. I felt like we weren’t doing it together anymore,” she recalled. “I feel like there was a lot of miscommunication. There was a lot of resentment I was holding on to even through the adoption and after. I just hit a breaking point. I didn’t like him and I resented him.”
After a blowout fight where Lauren told Thomas she hated him, they knew they had to save their marriage. So Lauren and Rhett went into a two-and-a-half-day “intensive counseling session” and got “everything” off their chests.
“Some of it was really hard to hear from each other,” she added. “So we really just did a restart. That was when I felt like our marriage really took off.”
Thomas Rhett and Lauren were able to fall in love again, and they went on to welcome two more daughters, Lennon Love and Lillie Carolina.
This story’s featured image is by Ethan Miller/Getty Images.
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