By Wonderwall.com Editors
5:54am PST, Mar 4, 2019
Miranda Lambert's headline-making relationships have created some major buzz over the years. From country music superstar Blake Shelton to American rhythm and blues musician Anderson East, she's been linked to some of the industry's most talented stars. But she's also given some regular guys a shot. We're taking a look back at the ups and downs of Miranda's relationship history. Keep reading for more…
RELATED: The 60 biggest country music stars
Blake Shelton, 2006-2015
Miranda Lambert met Blake Shelton in 2005 when they performed together at the CMT 100 Greatest Duets concert. Sparks immediately flew between the two — even though Miranda was dating musician Jeff Allen McManus and Blake was married to his first wife, Kaynette Williams. "I was a married guy, you know? Standing up there and singing with somebody and going, 'Man, this shouldn't be happening.' Looking back on that, I was falling in love with her, right there on stage," Blake later revealed during Miranda's VH1 "Behind the Music" special. He filed for divorce in 2006 and publicly began dating Miranda that same year. Both claim they waited until after their respective splits to get together, but Miranda's ex, Jeff, told a different story. "You know, I've always given you the benefit of the doubt and chalked it up to just being human, but you must be one arrogant SOB to pop off something like this, when I know damn good and well you were cheating on your wife and Miranda was cheating on me when you two started up," Jeff tweeted to Blake in 2018 after Blake seemingly commented on a brewing cheating scandal involving a new Miranda paramour. Yikes.
RELATED: Country music's biggest scandals
Blake Shelton, 2006-2015
In May 2010, Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton got engaged. The country music stars tied the knot a year later after five years of dating. "I'm married to my best friend!" Miranda gushed to Us Weekly at the time. "Looking forward to a lifetime of laughter." All seemed to be going well until, it wasn't…
Blake Shelton, 2006-2015
After months of reports claiming there was trouble in paradise — which the couple's camps tried to shoot down — Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton suddenly pulled the plug on their marriage in July 2015. "This is not the future we envisioned," they said in a statement. "And it is with heavy hearts that we move forward separately. We are real people, with real lives, with real families, friends and colleagues. Therefore, we kindly ask for privacy and compassion concerning this very personal matter." The same day they announced their split, an Oklahoma judge signed off on their divorce just two weeks after Blake secretly filed paperwork to end the marriage.
Anderson East, 2015-2018
In the wake of her divorce from Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert quickly rebounded with musician Anderson East. The twosome began dating in September 2015 and their romance was made public that December. They seemed to be very much in love, with Miranda commenting on their time in the studio together, "It was all lovey-dovey and then we got in a fight, 'cause that's how it goes," she told PBS's "Front and Center." "And I was pissed, 'cause that's also how it goes. He tried to smooth it over with me. I said, 'Are you going to break up with me?' He said, 'I think I'll wait 60 years.' So sweet."
Anderson East, 2015-2018
Unfortunately, 60 years wasn't in the cards for the couple. Miranda Lambert and Anderson East reportedly broke up in early 2018 after two and a half years of dating. "…Part of feelings is also heartbreak unfortunately, but fortunately for me, I can use it for my art or whatever. I like to write sad songs. I like to listen to sad songs, so I want to sing y'all one," she said during a performance in March 2018, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel, making it pretty clear she was single again. That April, it emerged that Miranda had found love again, this time with the frontman in one of her opening acts, Turnpike Troubadours singer Evan Felker…
Evan Felker, 2018
Miranda Lambert's early 2018 courtship with a new man was steeped in controversy as a cheating scandal erupted. Turnpike Troubadours frontman Evan Felker was married when he and Miranda connected during her tour — his band was opening — in early February 2018. His estranged wife, Staci Nelson, reportedly felt blindsided by his late February divorce filing and how Evan "ghosted" her while on the road. But Miranda and Evan's love was short-lived: They'd broken up by August 2018, right around the time Evan's divorce from Staci was finalized. "I don't think it was a dramatic split, but he knew what he was 'allowed' to do based on [Miranda's] rules and he broke them," a source told People magazine. "He did something that he knew she wasn't going to approve of, she assumed he did it and he didn't deny it."
Brendan McLoughlin, November 2018-present
Miranda Lambert shocked the world in February 2019 when she revealed that she had quietly married New York City Police Department officer Brendan McLoughlin — a man no one even knew she was dating. Multiple reports confirmed they met when Miranda was in Manhattan to perform on "Good Morning America" in early November 2018 — Brendan worked a beat near the show's Times Square studios — and wed less than three months later in January 2019. "In honor of Valentine's Day I wanted to share some news. I met the love of my life. And we got hitched! My heart is full. Thank you Brendan Mcloughlin for loving me for…. me. ❤️," Miranda wrote on Instagram. Fans were even more surprised to find out Brendan had welcomed a baby, a son named Landon, with another woman — lawyer Kaihla Rettinger — just a few days after he met Miranda. Even crazier? In Touch confirmed he was engaged to yet another woman, pro soccer player Jackie Bruno, earlier in 2018 — at least until Jackie found out he'd gotten another woman pregnant. Messy!
