Devlin “Duck” Hodges, Lainey Wilson’s fiancé, showed his support at the 2025 Country Music Association Awards.
On Wednesday, November 19, the 33-year-old singer and the 29-year-old former NFL player walked the red carpet together before the ceremony at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Wilson stunned in a teal ensemble from head to toe, complete with her trademark bell bottoms, a flowing cape, and a matching cowboy hat. Hodges, on the other hand, chose a more understated look, pairing black pants with a tan coat and a brown leather vest. He subtly matched his fiancée with a turquoise bolo tie that complemented her outfit.
After cohosting last year with singer Luke Bryan and former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning, Wilson is preparing to host the awards show alone for the first time. She has also received nominations in six categories: Entertainer of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year for Whirlwind, Song of the Year and Single of the Year for “4x4xU,” and Music Video of the Year for “Somewhere Over Laredo.”
Although Wilson and Hodges have been an item since 2021, they waited until their red carpet debut at the ACM Awards in May 2023 to publicly acknowledge their relationship. Since then, Wilson has become more open to discussing their romance.
Wilson revealed in a June 2023 interview with People that she and Hodges connected through friends in Nashville.
She recalled, “We went to this old place called Silverados, and it had free beer and wine from 5 to 10 p.m. I was like, ‘This boy likes to ball on a budget too. This is gonna work out.’”
Wilson further explained that she waited two years to reveal Hodges as her partner. She told the outlet, “I said, ‘We gonna see if you’re in it for the right reasons.’”
She added, “Turns out, he is. It feels really good to talk about it.”
Wilson revealed her engagement to Hodges in February. She captioned a series of Instagram pictures from the proposal, “4x4xU forever ❤️,” referencing her popular Whirlwind song.
Wilson raved about Hodges in her cover story interview with Us Weekly earlier in the month, even though she admitted that they haven’t started making wedding plans yet.
She stated, “I’ve been so busy this year that we’re like, ‘We’re gonna figure it out, for sure,’ but he’s such a good dude. He is my best friend. He is my biggest cheerleader. We lift each other up. He understands that this life is full of a lot of late nights and travel, and we might be just like ships passing in the night, but he’s always my rock through it all.”
She continued, saying Hodges has “made it much easier for her to write a love song nowadays,” though he sometimes wonders if her sad songs are also about him.
Wilson told Us with a laugh, “He’s like, ‘Hold up a minute.’ I’m like, ‘Not everything is about you!’”
When Wilson won her historic Entertainer of the Year award at the 2023 CMA Awards, she gave Hodges a shout-out in her acceptance speech, telling her then-boyfriend from the stage, “I love you, Duck.”
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