Miranda Lambert and Brendan McLoughlin‘s chemistry was undeniable at the 2026 Academy of Country Music Awards.
While the couple did not walk the red carpet ahead of the Sunday, May 17, ceremony at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, they were seen looking loved-up at the same table as breakout star Ella Langley during the Prime Video broadcast.
McLoughlin, 34, leapt to his feet and began clapping when Langley’s hit song “Choosin’ Texas,” which Lambert, 43, cowrote and produced, received the award for Single of the Year, marking Lambert’s 20th career ACM win. The couple also posed for photos with fellow nominee Lainey Wilson and her new husband, Devlin “Duck” Hodges, inside the arena.
Lambert received eight ACM Awards nominations this year, including Female Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, Music Event of the Year and Visual Media of the Year for “A Song to Sing” with Chris Stapleton and Music Event of the Year for “Trailblazer” with Reba McEntire and Lainey Wilson. Lambert also performed her new single, “Crisco,” in an all-denim outfit with a white cowboy hat during the show.
Lambert and McLoughlin have kept a relatively low profile since tying the knot in January 2019. In her September 2024 Us Weekly cover story, she offered rare insight into the pair’s relationship away from the prying eyes of the public.
“I guess the thing I’ve learned the most is just that communication is everything,” she told Us at the time. “Love doesn’t always cut it. You’ve got to talk about s***. And you have to compromise sometimes and be willing to listen to each other when you have something important to say. Love is hard some days, but the reward is so worth it.”
Lambert also credited McLoughlin with challenging her in positive ways.
“He calls me out, and I love that. I need that,” she explained of her husband. “I don’t think it’s healthy that people, especially artists or celebrities, surround themself with yes people. If you surround yourself with a group of people who are honest with you, you’ll go a lot farther, and it’s a lot healthier in the long run.”
As for how the duo spend their downtime, Lambert insisted they’re just like any other couple.
“We’re pretty chill,” she noted. “When we’re off work, I’m in my patio hang vibe. We’ll make drinks and listen to music. Sometimes we’ll have the best parties just by ourselves. He loves what he calls ‘happy hour music’ — Matchbox Twenty and Goo Goo Dolls. So we have different tastes, but we’ll sit there for hours and listen. Sometimes I say to him, ‘We kind of live on a date,’ which is pretty awesome.”
Then five years into her marriage to McLoughlin, Lambert looked back on their whirlwind romance.
“I kind of went for it; no risk, no reward,” she told Us of marrying McLoughlin after three months together. “I just felt like the worst that could happen, I’ve lived through. If it ends, it ends.”
She continued, “If you don’t put your heart out there, are you ever going to get the big love that everybody wants, that all the songs are about, that all the movies are about? I’m guarded in a lot of ways, but when it comes to my heart, I’m like, what do you really have to lose? Pain is pain, but it passes.”
