When Us Weekly caught up with Carrie Underwood at the April 27 taping of American Idol’s Taylor Swift night, the country music superstar shared an intimate glimpse into life at her family’s 400-acre farm in Franklin, Tennessee. Underwood, 43, her former pro hockey player husband, Mike Fisher, 45, and their sons, Isaiah, 11, and Jacob, 7, left Hollywood in 2019 and have been embracing their rural retreat — complete with horses and chickens, a barn and a garden where Underwood grows carrots and beets — ever since. “When I’m away [for work], I’m like Cinderella at the ball,” Underwood told Us. “I’m a princess, and it’s great. And then I come home, and I’m covered in dirt [and] poop. It’s just the polar opposite. I’m cleaning up after everybody and barefoot in the kitchen,” she continued, adding, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Nearly 21 years after she won American Idol, the “Out of That Truck” singer is still at the top of her game professionally. She returned to American Idol as a judge for season 23 in March 2025 (the season 24 finale aired May 11) and wrapped her nearly four-year Las Vegas residency that April. This month, the fitness fanatic launched her new wellness brand, HiNote, and will embark on a mini tour this summer with a handful of stops, including the Wildlands Festival in Big Sky, Montana.
But home remains her happy place. “Carrie loves life on the farm — growing vegetables, caring for animals and teaching her kids to do the same,” says an insider. “She loves her career and creating and performing, but as she has said, that’s not her real life. Her real life is at home with her family.”
Fans were pleasantly surprised when Underwood went back to American Idol. “It was a great opportunity to return to her roots, and it’s a positive environment for her,” says the insider, noting that she and her fellow judges, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie, “have a real camaraderie.” Underwood echoed that sentiment on April 27, calling the hit competition show an “easy work environment” and telling Us, “I feel like everybody is very respectful, and we have fun. And life’s too short not to, you know?”
Her 72-date Las Vegas residency, Reflections, was a huge success, but it took a lot out of her. “Carrie really enjoyed Vegas and would do it again, but she needed a break,” says the insider, noting that the shows require “a total lifestyle shift” for the whole family. “It’s a great gig with a nice schedule, and it’s also a lot of work,” the insider adds. “Mike and the kids would travel to Vegas with her, but she was ready to be home.”
Fisher is especially happy to have his wife of 15 years back in Tennessee. “As supportive as he is of her career, he’s a guy who wants normalcy,” the insider reveals. “They are a very traditional couple living a not-so-traditional life.” In 2018, Fisher briefly came out of retirement to play with the Nashville Predators — Us reported in 2019 that the couple had to figure out how to navigate two very hectic schedules. “That has been the biggest struggle they have faced in their relationship,” says the insider, “balancing their careers and paths, and letting each other pursue the things that make them happy while supporting each other and staying grounded as a couple. In the earlier years of their marriage,” the insider adds, “there was a lot of compromising.”
They’ve survived hardships by relying heavily on their faith. In 2017, Underwood tripped on a step outside the family’s home, leaving her with 50 stitches on her face and a broken wrist. The following year, she revealed on the couple’s web series, Mike and Carrie: God & Country, that she’d suffered three miscarriages between the births of Isaiah and Jacob. “It’s not something that you ever envision yourself having to deal with,” she said. “I had an honest conversation with God… I told him we needed something.”
Having to spend extended time apart is still a challenge. “Not being together physically can get tough to handle. Carrie and Mike would say that they [look to] their faith, which really is their foundation,” says the insider.
They aren’t always on the same page, but they’re committed to making it work. “On paper, they’re not very similar, but they share their faith and have always put that first,” the insider explains. Fisher is still retired from hockey, but the insider says he has his hand in a few businesses, and takes hunting and fishing so seriously that it’s “like a full-time job sometimes.” Underwood is a vocal animal lover (and vegetarian!), “but she puts up with Mike’s love of hunting.” (They addressed the conflict in their web series: “Carrie does not like hunting one bit,” Fisher said in a clip. “If he could be a vegan/vegetarian, my life would be almost perfect,” she replied.) “Mike is pretty conservative, while Carrie is more open-minded, and he’s more reserved and private than she is.”
Life on the farm isn’t always easy. “My goal is to do as much as I can myself,” Underwood told Us on the American Idol set. “It’s a challenge, and it’s frustrating, and it’s exciting and it’s rewarding and just all the things.” She also recently told Fox News Digital the family could be “self-sustained” at home if needed. “If I had all the time in the world, I would not really need to go to the grocery store for too much,” she said, adding, “It’s a lot of fun. We have cows, we have sheep, we have donkeys. We have horses. I have my garden, and it’s a great way to connect with the earth. That’s my contribution to the family.”
They have a tight circle of friends in Franklin, including Underwood’s bestie Ivey Childers, who’s married to her bandleader, as well as Underwood’s longtime trainer, Eve Overland, and other local families. “When she isn’t working, Carrie loves spending time with her boys and being outdoors,” the insider tells Us. “When they’re in Tennessee, it’s the typical lifestyle of a family with young kids.” The seven-time CMA winner is also very into wellness. “She works out with her trainer at home,” notes the insider, “and loves to run outside.”
She relishes her role as mom and wife. “I definitely feel like it’s changed me as a person,” the Grammy winner said of motherhood shortly after welcoming Isaiah. “I’m happier. I’m in a better mood a lot of the time.” Says the insider: “When Carrie isn’t working, she’s a full-time, hands-on mom.”
In 2022, Underwood revealed Isaiah was becoming “more aware” of her star status. “[He knows] that his mom does something that’s not normal,” she said on the Today show. But she’s doing everything she can to keep her kids grounded. “They travel with her and see her performing in front of huge crowds, but they know that’s not reality,” says the insider. “They may not live average, typical lives, but when they’re home in Tennessee, things are as close to normal as it gets.”
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