Going through a very public divorce from Blake Shelton was not easy for Miranda Lambert, but going through that difficult time is what helped her learn what she really wants in life. “Going through hard things obviously makes you get to know yourself a little better,” she told People. “When you get broken down pretty good, you look at the mirror and you go, ‘I have to spend time with me, learn who I am and what I want.’ I got to a really good place with myself. Then I met my husband.”
Miranda met her now-husband, Brendan McLoughlin, a former New York City police officer, in Nov. 2018. They quietly started dating and tied the knot just three months later in Jan. 2019. Miranda didn’t introduce Brendan to the world until mid-February of that year, after they had already wed. Now, after more than three years of marriage, the two remain blissfully happy — and Miranda isn’t afraid to talk about it.
“I want to be open about how happy we are,” she insisted. “I just don’t give two [expletive] about people’s opinion of me, my marriage, my music, or anything else. I just care that I’m being me. He just jumped right into this lifestyle — there’s a learning curve taking a New Yorker straight to the woods — but it was a big laugh. It’s nice to have a partner in that, someone by your side that supports you, loves you and believes in you. He loves me for me. It’s a really cool thing to have in my life at this point in my life.”
Meanwhile, Miranda and Blake started dating in 2006 and quickly became one of country music’s power couples. He proposed in May 2010 and they got married one year later. However, in 2015, they shocked fans by announcing their split. Miranda went on to date Anderson East and then Evan Felker before meeting Brendan. As for Blake — he began dating Gwen Stefani shortly after the split in 2015, and the two wed in July 2021.
These days, Miranda and Brendan split their time between Nashville and New York. The former cop has a three-year-old son from a past relationship back at home. “Without the hard stuff — the chaos, the crazy schedule, the heartbreak, the falling in love, falling out of love — I wouldn’t be who I am,” Miranda reflected. “I am thankful for the lessons, even though they hurt at the time.”