Though Gabby Barrett and Cade Foehner's romance was thrust into the spotlight during their run on Season 16 of American Idol, Barrett admits that falling for her now-husband was somewhat of a slow burn.

During a virtual debut appearance on Live With Kelly and Ryan, co-host Ryan Seacrest insists that he saw sparks fly between the lovebirds almost instantly, the day Barrett and Foehner met on the set of Idol. Foehner had appeared on Seacrest's show at the beginning of the couple's relationship and told Seacrest privately that they had just begun dating.

"From the first day you guys met eyes, I felt like it was love at first sight," Seacrest says. Barrett rebutted this claim, though, revealing that her feelings for her fellow contestant shaped over time.

"Not exactly on the spot, it took took a little bit longer," she confesses. "But it definitely came with time."

Barrett and Foehner married in October 2019 in his home state of Texas and had their first dance to the 1959 instrumental song "Sleep Walk" by brother duo Santo & Johnny. "It's really pretty. We like older music, so it was a good dance," Barrett realls.

Riding high on the success of her debut single "I Hope" that hit No. 1 on the country charts, Barrett is nominated for Best New Female Artist at the 2020 ACM Awards, which were postponed until Sept. 16 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Barrett says she got the news of her nomination while getting her hair and makeup done and looked down at her phone to see a slew of congratulatory messages come in from members of her team.

"I am very excited, very honored," she says. "It's just surreal."

Barrett recently released her debut album Goldmine, which set the record for having the highest number of first week streams for a debut country album by a female artist.   

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