Thomas Rhett and his wife, Lauren Akins, already knew that she was pregnant during CMA Fest, but they weren’t ready to tell anyone quite yet. Rhett just had his third turn co-hosting the CMA Fest TV special, which premiered on Sunday night, Aug. 4, and recalls how hard it was to keep the secret during all four nights of Nashville’s biggest music event.
“It’s always really hard to keep secrets like that,” Rhett told PEOPLE. “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.”
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Rhett and Akins announced she was expecting a baby girl in July with a picture of her in a bikini, showing off her expanding stomach, which was being held by her two daughters, Willa Gray and Ada James.
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“Excited to share that I will now be paying for 3 weddings,” Rhett captioned his post on social media. “I feel so blessed to say that our third child is on the way and it’s a girl!! I love you so much [Lauren Akins]. WG and AJ, y’all are gonna be the best big sisters! Bring on the crazy.”
Rhett used his time on stage CMA Fest to celebrate his father, Rhett Akins, by wearing a vintage t-shirt of one of his dad’s headlining tours from the ’90s.
“I think there has been such a resurgence of appreciation for ’90s country music lately, and it’s pretty cool to rep your own dad in that way,” Rhett said. “We have him out on tour this summer with us and have been having so much fun getting so much quality time together, so when I found a box of his original shirts from the ’90s, I knew I had to wear it. I think he’ll definitely get a kick out of seeing his face on TV.”
Rhett joins Dustin Lynch and Russell Dickerson in serving as the opening act on Rhett’s Very Hot Summer Tour. Find dates at ThomasRhett.com.
Photo Credit: Getty Images / Robyn Beck
