Getty Lauren Akins and Thomas Rhett attend the 2019 CMT Music Awards - Arrivals at Bridgestone Arena on June 05, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Thomas Rhett is returning to host the 2019 CMA Fest with Kelsea Ballerini, which starts on Sunday, August 4 at 8/7c on ABC. They will be joined by radio host Bobby Bones.
In addition to being a top country music star, Rhett is also known by his fans as a loving husband to Lauren Akins and attentive father to his two young daughters.
Rhett and his wife Lauren were childhood sweethearts and got married in 2012. The two struggled to conceive a child on their own, and began the process of adopting their daughter Willa Gray from Uganda when they found out Lauren was 3 months pregnant. According to People, they adopted 21-month-old Willa from Uganda in May 2017 only months before Ada James was born on August 12, 2017. Now, two years later, they have revealed that they are expanding their family yet again.
On July 23, Lauren shared the news that they were expected a third child on Instagram, and also shared the family’s sweet gender reveal photos and videos in the post. In its caption, she wrote “We decided we didn’t have enough princess dresses around the house so we’re adding another Akins baby girl to the family early next year… despite Thomas Rhett’s initial shock (swipe to see video) we are absolutely over the moon for our baby girl! Our girls cannot wait to meet their little sister… Willa Gray prays for her every night (heart in a puddle every time) & she and Ada James love to touch my belly and talk to her – especially bc I’ve been showing since I was SEVEN weeks… So it feels like we have been hiding this secret for an ETERNITY. And I’d like to apologize to everyone I’ve canceled on, said no to or just been MIA, but for a second there I wasn’t sure if I was pregnant or just puked for a living. But she’s soooo worth it. We are SO excited! & if you need TR you can find him in the camping section at REI buying dude things…….jk, he’s excited too.”
Rhett shared the news with his own 3.8 million Instagram followers, writing “Excited to share that I will now be paying for 3 weddings. I feel so blessed to say that our third child is on the way and it’s a girl!! I love you so much @laur_akins. WG and AJ, y’all are gonna be the best big sisters! Bring on the crazy.”
Rhett told People Magazine that he and Lauren knew they were expected their third when he left to host the CMA Fest with Ballerini. He said “It’s always really hard to keep secrets like that. Naturally, you are excited and want to tell everyone, and Lauren and I have always been pretty open with our fans, so it’s nice for the news to finally be out there. And yes, work-wise it can be challenging. It was definitely a little tougher leaving for the stadium every night knowing I was not only leaving Lauren to fly solo with two kids, but also that she was pregnant and dealing with that, but she’s incredible.”