The Strangest Things About Miranda Lambert's New Marriage
Country music sensation Miranda Lambert has made a habit out of racking up Academy of Country Music Awards and Grammys like it's nobody's business. But there's one area of her life where she hasn't always been a winner ... we're referring to her high-profile relationships, of course. She and fellow country star Blake Shelton appeared to be solid until Shelton filed for divorce in 2015. Following a pair of back-to-back romances that seemed to go nowhere, Lambert made the most shocking announcement of all on Instagram in February 2019: she was once again a married woman! So, who was the lucky fella? It turned out the songstress' mystery man was an NYPD officer named Brendan McLoughlin — and, well, we were all riddled with confusion.
Apart from the fact that the "Tin Man" hitmaker tied the knot with a man who was far removed from the music industry, the facts surrounding their surprise matrimony have raised more than a few eyebrows in the entire state of Texas and beyond. Keep on scrolling to find out the strangest things about Miranda Lambert's new marriage.
Miranda Lambert moved on fast from her previous marriage
Following her 2015 divorce from Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert began dating fellow singer-songwriter Anderson East the following year. When the former couple split up in early 2018, a hopeful source told Us Weekly, "They have spent a lot of time apart, but potentially could end up back together. The love is still there."
However, that plan got nixed that same year when it was revealed that Lambert had moved on once again with Turnpike Troubadours singer Evan Felker (via People). He was reportedly still married to a woman named Staci Nelson when they began dating, according to Radar Online ... but that's a story for another day. However, by that August, the country songstress announced to The Tennessean that she was again living that single life. Next thing we knew, Lambert was letting the cat out of the bag and announced that she'd married Brendan McLoughlin by the following February. However, their secret ceremony actually took place a month before, People reports.
Sure, people fall in love, break up, and move on, and while we're not here to judge, some think Lambert may have moved on just a tad bit too fast.
New dad McLoughlin found new love all at the same time
Marrying Brendan McLoughlin didn't just make Miranda Lambert a blushing bride, she also became a stepmom. No, we weren't the least bit surprised that her new hubby — who's eight years her junior, according to People — had a child from a previous relationship. But what really left us shook was when Radar Online reportedly discovered a since-deleted Instagram post from November 2018, which featured new dad McLoughlin holding his newborn son. "Blessed to have a healthy son," the caption allegedly read. "Welcome my boy, Landon James McLoughlin 11/5/18."
The strangest part of all? The timing. McLoughlin's baby boy was allegedly born a mere three days after he met Lambert on the set of Good Morning America. So, who is the baby mama? Where is the baby mama? And what is really going on here?! We'll get into all that in a bit. In the meantime, for what it's worth, Lambert told Extra TV in June 2019 that her stepson is "amazing."
Was Lambert's second marriage an attempt to make her ex jealous?
In response to the news that Miranda Lambert and Brendan McLoughlin had tied the knot, the country singer's ex-husband, Blake Shelton, was reportedly blasé and rather cold about the entire situation. "He put Miranda in his rear view mirror long ago," a source cited by People said of the singer, who'd confirmed his own romance with The Voice co-star Gwen Stefani in 2015. "Miranda brings nothing positive to his life." Savage.
Okay, so Mr. "Ol' Red" apparently didn't give much of a hoot. As for the rest of us? We were pretty flabbergasted as we pieced together the puzzle of Lambert's second marriage, particularly when Radar Online reported that the couple got hitched just two months after they met. So, what was the real reason behind their quick nuptials? "Miranda suspected that Blake and his love, Gwen Stefani, are close to tying the knot," an insider claimed to the gossip rag. "And wanted to upstage her ex."
That sounds like a terrible reason to get married. While it wouldn't be entirely surprising considering the rest of the circumstances pertaining to this wacky union, we should note that this is, of course, all mere speculation.
Are Lambert and McLoughlin living separate lives?
As is all too often the case in Tinseltown, it wasn't long before the rumor mill exploded with allegations of marital woes between Lambert and McLoughlin. A snitch close to the situation reached out to Radar Online in May 2019 and claimed that the "Little Red Wagon" artist and her new hubby were living "completely different lives, almost a thousand miles apart."
With Lambert based in the country music epicenter of Nashville, Tenn. and McLoughlin working as a police officer in the Big Apple, this meant they were allegedly involved in a long-distance marriage. The miles between them allegedly made things difficult for the couple to expand their family, as well. "She wants a baby before it's too late," the insider claimed. "But Brendan can barely see her a couple of days a month."
Since McLoughlin has been pictured out on the force in New York City, while Lambert consistently tags her location on Instagram in the Athens of the South, there may actually be some truth behind this weird rumor.
Dodging divorce rumors from the jump
Rumors regarding their supposed marital strife continued in the months after Miranda Lambert and Brendan McLoughlin became husband and wife. Amid the bad press was Star magazine's claim that Lambert had plans to divorce McLoughlin "after just 122 days of marriage" (via Gossip Cop). An anonymous source told the gossip rag that the country music songstress was reportedly "moving out" of their shared $2 million apartment in New York City. The insider added that Lambert allegedly told friends that marrying the NYPD police officer was "the biggest mistake of her life." Ouch.
The media outlet's source also highlighted the aforementioned long-distance marriage rumor, saying that it was causing way too many issues for the newlyweds: "Flying Brendan back and forth [to Nashville] is tiring." All that said, a spokesperson for Lambert told Gossip Cop that Star's article was "completely made-up," before adding, "Not one iota is true. They are happy and together!" We certainly want to believe them, but are starting to feel a bit skeptical.
Autograph seekers put a damper on his police duties
Rumors of marital issues aside, Brendan McLoughlin has been said to be having problems on the job, as well. The New York City police officer once worked patrol duty and was given the task of escorting numerous big-name celebrities around Manhattan, including the likes of "Jared Leto and former Mets and Yankees baseball star Darryl Strawberry," according to the New York Post. However, after marrying one of the top names in the country music world, McLoughlin reportedly began to suffer professionally.
With his fellow cops unwilling to deal with his new-found celebrity status, a source told the media outlet that he'd been taken off of patrol duty in February 2019: "It would be hard to do his job with photographers and reporters hounding him." With the threat of fans trying to obtain his autograph while on duty, the New York Post reports that McLoughlin was reassigned and forced to work "as a driver shuttling around higher-ups from his Midtown South Precinct, which includes Times Square."
If true, having his entire world shaken up during what should be the happiest time of his life would have undoubtedly been a major blow for McLoughlin.
His messy past got exposed
Getting married to Brendan McLoughlin, whom she once described as being "#theone" in an Instagram caption, should've been reason for Miranda Lambert to celebrate. Instead, her new hubby's skeletons began tumbling out of the closet, and those bones weren't pretty. According to Radar Online, McLoughlin was once engaged to a woman named Jackie Bruno, according to Jackie's own mom, Carol. She claimed that Jackie reportedly found out that McLoughlin was cheating on her and he got his side chick pregnant in 2018. Yikes!
According to Carol, McLoughlin was living a "secret life for several months." She added, "He definitely was very phony and she had no idea. He hid it well, he hid it very well." As we now know, their child was born three days after McLoughlin met Lambert. That means he went from having a fiancée to allegedly impregnating another woman to courting the country songstress all in the blink of an eye.
Sure, people can change, but based on his alleged track record, should we be worried for Lambert?
Lambert got financial advice from ... his ex-fiancée's mom
Miranda Lambert is one of the highest-paid country music stars, with a reported net worth of an estimated $60 million. Having accumulated that type of fortune, it's probably best that she's done what needs to be done to protect her empire — particularly ahead of her second marriage. This was the same key piece of advice given to her by Brendan McLoughlin's ex-fiancée's mom, of all people.
According to Radar Online, Carol Bruno said she hoped Lambert "was smart enough to get a prenup." However, it didn't seem like Bruno necessarily had good intentions with her statement, because she went on to call out Lambert's dating history, adding, "[Lambert] doesn't have the best reputation either — maybe they're perfect for each other!" Petty spaghetti!
How weird was it that Lambert's husband's ex's mom was all up in her business like that? Sounds like someone might need a gag order STAT!
Nothing can stop Lambert from creeping on McLoughlin during private moments
In an effort to promote her new music, Miranda Lambert got some help from her doting husband ... without his knowledge. In July 2019, she shared a video of a shirtless Brendan McLoughlin doing some laundry. In the Instagram caption, Lambert plugged the release of her upcoming song, a track entitled "It All Comes Out in the Wash." She added the words: "house husband shirtless promo vol 1" to the caption. And we have to admit, it was a genius way to get people talking about her new music (and her husband's chiseled bod).
Lambert wasn't done with the scantily clad song promos, though. Weeks later, she shared another video of McLoughlin — sans shirt, once again — doing some yard work while listening to his headphones. This time, Lambert was promoting the song "Way Too Pretty for Prison" featuring Maren Morris. In addition, she wrote in the caption: "Speaking of pretty...house husband shirtless promo volume 2."
In both instances, McLoughlin looked a bit peeved to have his chores interrupted by her cell phone being shoved in his face, and we can't blame him.
The country starlet told Billboard she has a "tendency to creep on him when he's doing house chores shirtless." So she figured, "why not share that with my friends?" Um, maybe because those are intimate moments that shouldn't be shared with complete strangers? Sheesh.
Miranda Lambert's husband put his NYPD duties on hold
As the New York Post reported, Brendan McLoughlin was taken off patrol duty at the NYPD and relegated to working a desk job in February 2019. And now, McLoughlin is hanging up his uniform and baton. According to People, he took a leave of absence from the force in July 2019. The publication added that the NYPD "could not discuss specifics of McLoughlin's situation, [but] officers can take leaves for various reasons, many of which are personal in nature."
His decision came just months before Miranda Lambert kicked off her Roadside Bars & Pink Guitars Tour, and Hollywood Life confirmed our suspicions that McLoughlin took the leave of absence so he could go on tour with her and act as her bodyguard on the road. "When she has to work it means being on the road and they want to be together, so it only makes sense for him to travel with her," a source told the media outlet.
McLoughlin is expected to return to the NYPD one day, but the fact that he put his job on the back burner doesn't help those rumors that he's using Lambert to kickstart his quest to become a celeb. "Brendan loves all the attention," an insider told InTouch Weekly in June 2019. "He's had a desire to be famous since high school."