Who is Lainey Wilson dating? Learn all there is to know as the celebrated country singer flaunted her boyfriend Devlin Hodges at the 2023 CMAs.
Lainey Wilson is best known for being an American country music singer-songwriter. Wilson performed from an early age, before going to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue a career as a country performer. In 2014, she released her first album, followed by a second on the Lone Chiefin 2016.
Wilson secured a publishing deal and later released an extended play in 2019, which included the song “Things a Man Oughta Know”. In 2020, it was issued as a single through the BBR Music Group and eventually reached number one on the American country songs chart. Her success over a number of years has earned her a loyal fanbase, who often ask about who she is dating at the moment. As it turns out, Wilson is currently dating former NFL player Devlin Hodges.
The couple stepped out together for the 2023 CMA Awards at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday, walking the red carpet hand-in-hand before the ceremony — where Wilson was the most-nominated artist with nods in nine categories. The “Heart Like a Truck” singer wore a black strapless jumpsuit with mega-flare legs featuring black satin ruffles as well as a cowboy hat and statement jewels, while the former NFL player-turned-real estate agent sported an all-black suit with a matching cowboy hat.
Wilson delivered a fiery performance of her latest single “Wildflowers and Wild Horses” during the ceremony, and she’s won two of her nine nominations — music video of the year and musical event of the year, both for “Wait in the Truck” with HARDY — as of midway through the show. Hodges and Wilson began dating in 2021 but didn’t go public with their relationship until two years later when he accompanied the performer to the ACM Awards in May 2023.
In an interview with PEOPLE earlier this year, Wilson explained why she and Hodges waited to clue fans in on the relationship. “I said, ‘We gonna see if you’re in it for the right reasons.’ Turns out, he is,” she said. “Somebody said how funny it was watching him high-five all of my artist friends at the ACMs, and I said, ‘Those are his friends!’”
“He’ll FaceTime me, and he’ll be with HARDY and Morgan [Wallen] and Luke [Combs], and I’m like, ‘Stop stealing all my buddies,’” she continued at the time. “They’ll always be out golfing and drinking a beer. I don’t have to convince anybody to like him. He’s a very lovable person.” Wilson also opened up about meeting Hodges through mutual friends in Nashville. “We went to this old place called Silverados, and it had free beer and wine from 5 to 10 p.m.,” she said. “I was like, ‘This boy likes to ball on a budget too. This is gonna work out.’”
After telling the world about their romance, Wilson said, “it feels really good to talk about it.” “Duck is the kind of dude who high-fives me on the way in the door and on the way out and says, ‘Go get it,’” she added. “He knows how important this dream is to me.”
Hodges, who affectionately goes by “Duck,” received his nickname while playing football at Samford University in Alabama. During an appearance on The Bobby Bones Show, Wilson shared the story of how her boyfriend’s moniker came to be.
“His college football coach was like, ‘You’re one of the best quarterbacks I’ve ever worked with. And you remind me a lot of one of my favorite quarterbacks I got to work with years ago, and we called him Duck,’ ” Wilson said. “And so he and the team just kind of started calling him Duck.” Coincidently, it also turned out that Hodges was an avid duck hunter, too.
After college, Hodges went on to play professional football for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was with the team for two years before joining the Los Angeles Rams in 2021. Similar to Wilson, Hodges understands the importance of a hard work ethic, which is one of the many shared characteristics that first brought them together.
“He knows what it’s like chasing a dream because he’s done that for himself,” Wilson said on The Bobby Bones Show. “He was in the NFL. He tried out literally for the Steelers and made it and had a really great run with them. Went out to LA Rams and did that.” Hodges later signed a three-year contract with the Canadian Football League team Ottawa Redblacks as a starting quarterback. But in April 2022, the team announced his retirement from the sport.
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