Country star Thomas Rhett opens up about why traveling alone makes him a better husband and dad after his wife admitted she 'resented' him over his career

Country star Thomas Rhett has insisted that traveling alone makes him a 'more present husband and father' after his wife, Lauren Akins, confessed to having 'resented' her husband for his career.

In July, the Die A Happy Man hitmaker's wife, 34, lifted the lid on the trouble she and Thomas, also 34, faced in their relationship while he toured the world in a video shared on YouTube by I Am Second. 

Lauren - who he tied the knot with in 2012 - admitted that the couple had reached a breaking point at the height of her spouse's career - adding that she ultimately 'hated' him for chasing his dreams as she was left to care for their kids.

However, in a wide-ranging interview with Vanity Fair, Thomas said that he needed to share his music and travel the world alone so that he could be attentive to Lauren and their four children while he was home. 

He went on to say that although fans may see the best of them on social media, they are far from 'couple goals' and are 'freaking human beings' who are working on their romance daily. 

The country star explained: 'Through tons of talking with my wife and being really honest about it, it's like, "Hey, when I go do this thing, I think I just need to go alone so that I can be a million percent doing that, so that when I come home, I feel like I've nailed what I needed to do, and now I can really be a present husband and a present father."'

His explanation comes months after his spouse revealed that the lovebirds faced murky waters at the beginning of their romance. 

Lauren previously revealed that early into their relationship, when Thomas' career took off, it left her feeling lonely. 

And while she initially decided to tour with him, she soon began to 'resent' her husband - adding that she felt like they weren't 'doing it together.'

Lauren admitted: 'His life went on, and I feel like mine stopped. And I felt like we weren't doing it together anymore. 

'I feel like there was a lot of miscommunication, there was a lot of resentment I was holding on to even through the adoption and after. I just hit a breaking point. I didn't like him and I resented him.'

The lovebirds felt their marriage ripping at the seams so they decided to undergo an 'intense counseling session,' in which they 'shared everything' and decided to 'restart.' 

Further in the Vanity Fair interview, Thomas noted that although their marriage looked glamorous from the outside, they wanted people to know that they had their issues as well. 

He told the outlet: 'People have always looked at us like we are just perfect, and that we don’t argue and that we don’t have issues. 

'But Instagram is a highlight reel of your life in many ways. So in the last couple years, we’ve really tried to get out of that "couple goals" hashtag thing. We are freaking normal human beings. 

'I happen to do a job that a lot of people pay attention to and notice and critique and all the things, but we live a very normal life.' 

He also revealed that the couple has worked through all of their issues and are now in a 'great' place.

The country star added: 'We’re having such a great time right now in our marriage because it’s a new season. Our kids are in school five days a week, so we have time to work out, play pickleball together, do what we want to do.

'I think the ups and the downs of marriage are what make a marriage really strong. It’s how you deal with those moments. 

'I’ve just watched my wife grow in so many amazing ways, and I hope she would say she's watched me grow in so many amazing ways. It makes me so excited about today, and it makes me so excited about the future.' 

When Lauren spoke about the issues, she explained that their romance hit murky waters when they decided to adopt their oldest daughter, Willa Gray. 

Just after the couple began going through the adoption process, Lauren got pregnant while her husband sold out arenas - leaving her carrying one child and struggling to bring another home all alone. 

She explained that early into their marriage, Thomas' career took off and she decided to tour with him. 

However, she soon felt like she had given up on her dream of becoming a nurse. 

'I realized pretty early on that I was not going to be a working nurse in a hospital. And so I started talking about that with my husband,' she said.

'Just like, "I know this is what you're pursuing, but I'm going to be honest, I really thought it wasn't going to work out and I thought I was going to be a nurse and that was how our life was going to go."

'"And that's just not the plan that God had. I do want to support you, but I feel like I need to find kind of my own path within this too."' 

Shortly after, she decided to go on a medical mission trip to Haiti, which was where she met Willa. 

Lauren recalled calling her spouse and explaining that she felt like she was 'called to help her find her forever home.' 

Thomas replied: 'We'll do it.'

The lovebirds adopted Willa in 2017 after Lauren went through an 'intense' 13-month adoption process on her own because Thomas was touring. 

Things became even more stressful when Lauren discovered she was pregnant and was throwing up multiple times a day. 

She confessed: 'I was getting sick and throwing up like 50-something times a day.

'The whole time I was missing my husband. I started to resent him a little bit because he was back in America touring.'

Lauren went back to the US and her parents went to Haiti to bring Willa home. Three months after they welcomed Willa to their home, Lauren gave birth to their second daughter, Ada. 

'It kind of felt like we went from zero to two pretty quick as parents,' she said before explaining that she and the kids had decided to join Thomas on tour. 

However, it seemed that being on the road only intensified their problems. 

They then welcomed their third daughter, Lennon Love, in 2020, and their fourth child, Lillie Carolina, in 2021.

After giving birth to Lillie, Lauren confessed that she suffered from severe 'postpartum depression.' 

She admitted that she felt like she was 'drowning' and stayed in bed for 'months' while Thomas took care of the children. 

Lauren revealed she finally got better after consistently going to the gym and praying - adding that she was so thankful for all of her four children. 

In the past, Thomas spoke about his family and the ways in which the couple decided to raise their children with Esquire. 

He stated: 'Our life is anything but normal...my biggest thing is finding the ways I can normalize their lives, so that there is never any sense of, "I deserve X."'

The songwriter also expressed that he and his wife took after their own parents in terms of how they raised their daughters.

'We had great parents that role modeled what it looked like to be a good mom and a good dad — but not pushovers. It's easy to get rolled by your kid. Real easy,' he said.