From publicity shy newlyweds to dedicated dog parents, Kellie Pickler and Kyle
Jacobs embraced married life to the fullest. Here's what we know about their marriage.
In 2008, Kellie Pickler was two years off of her incredible season of American Idol,
in which she made it to the top six. She decided to go out to a bar with friends — and it just
so happened that her future husband was there. In a 2015 appearance on The Real,
Pickler recounted the story of how the two met.
"I was out with a friend of ours — we had mutual friends — and I look across
the room and I see this guy, Kyle. I didn't know who he was or what
he did. We just locked eyes and I went, 'I gotta know everything about this person.'"
Luckily for Pickler, one of those mutual friends was able to make their introduction smooth. By the
end of the night, the two only had eyes and ears for each other. Before long, they were dating.
"I'm so blessed to have Kyle." In the early years of their relationship,
Kellie Pickler and Kyle Jacobs avoided having their every move tracked and photographed by
paparazzi. In fact, the two didn't share much at all about their relationship with the public.
Nevertheless, they did make a major splash in 2010 when Pickler announced that she and
Jacobs had gotten engaged. Pickler even opened up about what made the proposal so special.
As Pickler explained to People at the time, Jacobs proposed on June 15th,
which was her late grandmother's birthday. The day had previously been a difficult
one for Pickler and her family, but the proposal turned that around. As she put it,
"It turned out to be the most amazing day of my life. My whole
world changed. We both feel like we got my grandmother's blessing."
The singer also shared that Jacobs went above and beyond to make every
part of the proposal count by setting up a blanket,
bringing champagne, and lighting candles on the beach. As Jacob told the outlet,
"Afterward, we just held each other and had the most beautiful prayer. We
had a little champagne and talked and laughed and cried. [...] Kyle
took away all my fear of marriage and has shown me the way love is supposed to be."
In 2017, Pickler opened up in a new way about the night in question. The
singer revealed that Jacobs had put even more effort into the proposal than she'd
previously revealed. As Pickler told her audience on Instagram,
"Little did I know, he had secretly planted a small wooden box in the sand ... It looked
like it had washed up from sea, but upon opening it, I found a true treasure."
The inside of the box contained more than an engagement ring. Jacobs had
put together a journal that he'd written for her,
a shell that had her grandmother's name on it, and, of course, the ring.
After getting engaged, Kellie Pickler and Kyle Jacobs began planning an elaborate wedding in
Nashville, Tennessee. As the couple told People, they thought that the big wedding was what they
wanted — but then they ended up eloping on the beach instead. As Pickler explained to the outlet,
"When two people get married, it's not about the glamour. It's about the bride and groom and God."
Instead of marrying in Nashville, Pickler and Jacobs packed up and headed to the
blue waters of Antigua to get hitched, with only their minister present.
While plenty of couples might have used the opportunity to enjoy an extended honeymoon
right at the beach, Kellie Pickler and Kyle Jacobs jetted off to a pretty unlikely honeymoon
destination: Baghdad, Iraq. Pickler was performing for troops in Baghdad as part of a USO tour,
and later told Parade that the trip was always part of their plan. The singer told the outlet,
"It was so romantic! No, it was just that I had already committed to going
over there and I wasn't going to cancel because that wouldn't have been right."
She added that Jacobs really enjoyed the experience too, and shared,
"It was such a great experience for him to be a part of. It's not every
day that you get to be a part of something so big and so special."
Pickler also spoke about the decision to head to Iraq after getting married during
an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show in 2019. She revealed that the soldiers
enjoyed the couple's visit, and even participated in making the stay special.
"All of the soldiers at each spot where we would stay at had a 'honeymoon' suite for us.
It was the funniest thing." Kellie Pickler and Kyle Jacobs
collaborated on more than music together. In 2015, the pair launched their reality series
I Love Kellie Pickler. Unlike some couples, friends, and families that seem to be torn apart
by participation in a reality show or series, Pickler and Jacobs appeared to be happy with
the three seasons that their show enjoyed. Jacobs told Us Weekly that the dynamic portrayed in the
show was very much the one that he and his wife had in real life. As he explained to the outlet,
"It's kind of the crazy things that Kellie gets herself into, and I kind of have to
get her out of it. It honestly is nothing but love and laughter ... we love our marriage,
and our marriage is always No. 1. But one of our favorite things that we can do is laugh."
That definitely checks out based on how Pickler herself described
the show to The Country Note ahead of the first season. As she shared,
the couple was focused on keeping this light. She said,
"It's all positive and all about our family and friends and our crazy adventures. We
just want to be a bright light and make people laugh and feel good."
A few years after launching their reality series, Kellie Pickler and Kyle Jacobs returned to the
Middle East and again visited troops stationed in Baghdad, Iraq. The pair were part of a group
led by Marine Corps General Joe Dunford and arrived on December 24th, 2016. Pickler and
Jacobs weren't the only celebrities who visited as part of the USO tour that Christmas Eve. They were
joined by celebrity chef Robert Irvine and his wife, wrestler Gail Kim, and comedian Jeff Ross.
This trip actually marked the 11th time that Pickler and Jacobs visited troops together,
and Dunford expressed his appreciation for their visit, as well as the visits
that everyone involved made. As he explained, the tours and associated performances really
do a lot for the troops who are stationed overseas, particularly around especially
emotional times of the year. Dunford told the U.S. Department of Defense:
"All of the USO shows have great people,
and we appreciate them going out, but for the folks that came out this time,
they gave up their family time over the holidays. For them to do this is really special."
The CEO of the USO, J.D. Crouch II, told the U.S. Department of
Defense that Pickler and Jacobs were immediately part of the team. He said,
"They were on board from the start. Jeff, Robert and Gail also cleared their schedules
in record time to be a part of this." The pandemic had most people spending a lot
more time than usual at home, especially during the early months of 2020, as the virus spread
and so little was understood. As a result, plenty of people began thinking about a pretty important
part of life — whether or not they wanted to have kids. As a public person who had already
been married for some time, it's not too much of a surprise that Kellie Pickler was asked if she
and Kyle Jacobs wanted to have children together. But her answer might have surprised a few fans.
When asked by Us Weekly if she had heard about the "quarantine baby
boom," Pickler laughed and asked if the idea was "really a thing"
before clarifying her position on having kids at the time. She told the outlet,
"I love being Aunt Kellie and that is perfect for me."
Pickler went on to add that she and Jacobs were happy as
they could be as "dog parents" to their puppies.
"Mmm-kay. Thank you."
"No."
The couple were previously cat parents to a feline named Pickles,
but Jacobs was unfortunately allergic. After finding out about Jacobs' cat
allergy, Pickler found a new home for Pickles. She detailed to Us Weekly:
"I still get a little teary-eyed when I think about Pickles, [but I'm] a people pleaser.
I want everybody to be happy. I want everybody to like me and I want to like everybody."
Fans of Kellie Pickler and Kyle Jacobs were shocked when news of
Jacobs' death broke in February 2023. As reported by Entertainment Weekly,
Jacobs was 49 at the time of his death. Authorities in Nashville,
including the police and fire department, were called to the home that Pickler and
Jacobs shared in the middle of the afternoon. The Nashville Police Department later confirmed in a
statement they found Jacobs "deceased from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound."
Pickler reportedly told authorities that she wasn't able to find her husband when she woke
up. She enlisted the help of her assistant, and the two attempted to open a locked door to an
upstairs office in her home. The assistant called 911 shortly after the pair realized
they couldn't get in, and authorities were the ones who found Jacob deceased.
Following the news of his death, fans and fellow musicians commented on
Jacobs' final Instagram post, expressing their love for the
songwriter. Singer and former American Idol contestant Dillon James wrote:
"No words what so ever but I am so glad we got to chat the other day.
I'll be praying for you and your family bud. Thanks for all the laughs Kyle."
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide
Prevention Lifeline​ by dialing 988 or by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.