Gabby Barrett reflected on the moment she met her husband, Cade Foehner, as contestants on American Idol.

Barrett, 25, shared that story and others on a recent episode of Off the Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe. The powerhouse singer-songwriter remembered the moment she first noticed Foehner, 29, after the pair had made the Top 24, narrowed down from hundreds of hopefuls that season. They competed on Idol’s 16th season in 2018. Barrett was 17 when she auditioned for the show, and turned 18 during her Idol run. She was one of the youngest finalists of the season, finishing third place. Foehner, 21 at the time, made it to the Top 5.

“I had to chase him down,” Barrett told host Kaitlyn Bristowe. “On the show, I think I noticed him around Top 24.”

Barrett remembered spotting Foehner’s “beautiful” long, rock n’ roll-style hair, and said she was hooked. But she wasn’t the only one to notice the Texas-born singer and musician. Barrett’s father spotlighted Foehner after an impressive performance with his guitar.

“My dad had mentioned something about him on the stage,” Barrett reflected. “He was like, ‘there’s this dude that came out...onto the stage, and…he just ripped the guitar and it was so awesome. This dude just came on and commanded the stage.’ And I was like, ‘who is that?’ ...And then I saw him backstage and I told him he did a good job, and he said ‘thank you,’ and it was very reserved. But to this day, he says he doesn’t remember that. But I remember that, and it did happen! And then yeah, I had to — this is so weird. For some reason, I was like, ‘oh, how can I communicate to this guy?’ And I’m like, in soundcheck while we were practicing, I was like, ‘can I get a picture with you?’ ...Talk about something you don’t want to replay. That!

“So, I asked him for a picture. We ended up hanging out in like a little conference room at the hotel that all the contestants were staying at, and we just picked around, played music, and then he asked me to hang out with him again. And then I started going out with him in friend groups,” she continued. “So, that’s how we had met, and then just continued through the show, hanging out with each other, and then he asked me, you know, to be his lady...and then the rest of the year went really fast. We went on to the American Idol tour after Idol, which is crazy. …So, we got to know each other really quick. …And it worked out really good for us.”

Barrett added that it’s helpful that the two artists can work together. Foehner plays guitar during Barrett’s performances. The couple announced their engagement in March 2019, and got married in October of the same year in Texas. They now share three children together: daughter Baylah May, born in January 2021, son Augustine Boone, born in October 2022, and daughter Ivy Josephine, born in February 2024.

Throughout her conversation with Bristowe, Barrett also shared her experience with the American Idol audition process, takes podcast listeners “behind the scenes” of the competition show, her life-changing single, “an embarrassingly honest confession you won’t see coming,” and more. Find the full episode of Off The Vine here.

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