‘American Idol’ Alum Says She’s Engaged Thanks to Luke Bryan

Heavy/Getty Luke Bryan is credited with helping Lauren Alaina find her future husband

If it hadn’t been for music superstar and “American Idol” judge Luke Bryan, fellow country artist and Season 10 “Idol” runner-up Lauren Alaina says she probably wouldn’t have met her fiancé, Cam Arnold.

After keeping the identity of her beau a secret for over two years, Alaina finally revealed him to the world — on the Grand Ole Opry stage — after he proposed in November 2022. But on June 7, 2023, she told Entertainment Tonight that she has Bryan to thank for finding her true love. Here’s what you need to know:

Lauren Alaina Met Her Future Husband Backstage at Luke Bryan Show

In her Entertainment Tonight interview, Alaina said she and Arnold are a perfect match in part because of their Georgia upbringings and that it only made sense that a fellow Georgian, Bryan, would be connected to their first meeting.

“If you spend five minutes with (Cam), you’d be like, ‘I get it,'” Alaina said. “I mean, he’s from Georgia. We’re both from Georgia. Actually, fun fact, we met in Mexico at the Crash My Playa (concert festival) that Luke Bryan has every year. Luke Bryan brought us together.”

Bryan has hosted Crash My Playa in Mexico each winter for the last eight years, according to Taste of Country. The four-day, all-inclusive event features a concert lineup of some of country music’s biggest stars. Alaina met Arnold while backstage at the festival as she chowed down on tacos, she told Entertainment Tonight, and she was taken by his sense of humor.

“He’s friends with Luke’s niece and her husband, so he was backstage and we were at the taco stand,” Alaina explained. “And apparently I ate my tacos really fast and he was like, ‘Nobody’s gonna take those tacos away from you!’ First thing he ever said to me. And that was when I knew.”

But she wasn’t the only one who felt a spark. Alaina gave Arnold her number, she said, and later learned that he went home knowing he’d found “the one.”

She said, “I gave him my number, but he came home and told his best friend, ‘I met the woman I’m gonna marry. And I did not leave Mexico feeling that way, but he was right. I’m gonna marry him.”

Alaina, 28, told Entertainment Tonight that her main reasons for marrying Arnold are that he’s “funny and hot.” When she shared their engagement on Instagram in November, she was a bit more effusive about their connection.

She wrote, “My best friend, @arnold.cam, asked me to marry him, and I announced it at my favorite place in the world, @opry. I didn’t know happiness and excitement like this existed. I can’t wait to be Mrs. Cameron Scott Arnold.”

Lauren Alaina Just Released New Album While Planning Her Wedding

GettyLainey Wilson and Lauren Alaina perform together during CMA Fest on June 8, 2023

Alaina has been busy performing at CMA Fest in Nashville and promoting her new album, called “Unlocked,” while juggling all that goes into planning a wedding.

In March, she told the morning show on Audacy’s K-FROG in Riverside, California, that Arnold had been tagging along and offering ideas as she planned their big day.

“I’m fully immersed,” she told the hosts about wedding planning. “Venue is booked, yesterday I had a full day of meeting with florists and caterers and photographers. He went to all of it.”

Meanwhile, she told Entertainment Tonight, “I’m actually getting my dress made and my mom and I went to New York and we tried on all these dresses. It was so sweet. One of my favorite memories ever, and my mom is thriving with this wedding.”

Though Alaina kept the identity of her beau quiet while they dated, Arnold actually revealed their relationship in an Instagram post on August 4, 2021, when he shared a photo of them dining at The Continental, a restaurant located within the Hyatt Hotel Nashville. Joking that his girlfriend had just found a job, he revealed in the post that it was their one-year anniversary of dating.

During an interview on Audacy’s Rob + Holly Show in February, Alaina excitedly described Arnold as “just a regular guy. He’s a business guy, goes to work every day in a suit.”

According to LinkedIn, Arnold earned his undergraduate degree at Auburn University in Alabama and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Middle Georgia State University. He moved to Nashville in 2015 and currently works as the Vice President of Sales for an insurance company based there.

The couple has not announced the date of their wedding — or if Luke Bryan’s invited.