What Thomas Rhett says to naysayers who believe he married too young at 22

Thomas Rhett and Lauren Akins faced a few skeptical reactions when they decided to tie the knot at age 22, but the childhood sweethearts knew their love was the real deal.

“I think getting married so young in this kind of industry — I think there were people that were supportive, but there was a lot of people that were like, ‘Why don’t you just kind of date, and wait?’” Rhett said during a visit to TODAY with Hoda & Jenna. “And I was like, when you know, you know.”

The country star, 32, also pointed out that when they got married, he and Akins had already been best friends for years. In fact, they met as first graders attending the same elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee, although their close bond wouldn’t form until a bit later.

“We have known each other since we were really young and dated a little bit through high school,” Rhett said. “You learn a lot in marriage, for sure, but we knew everything about each other, you know what I mean? We’d been best friends ever since we were 14 or 15 years old.”

Back in 2015, Akins shared this adorable throwback photo of her and Rhett as young teens at church camp.

On Monday’s episode of the “Making Space with Hoda Kotb” podcast, Rhett also shared some marital advice he received before his wedding day from his father-in-law, Steve Gregory.

“I remember, before me and Lauren got married, he was like, ‘You better keep your head on straight,’” he recalled. “He was like, ‘You better not do anything out there on the road, because I promise you, I’ve seen it and I will call you out immediately.’ And I was like, ‘You don’t have anything to worry about,’ you know?”

Over the past decade, Rhett and Akins have welcomed four children to their family: Willa Gray, 6, Ada James, 4, Lennon Love, 2, and Lillie Carolina, 4 months.

Akins shared a sweet photo of their family in honor of her husband’s birthday last month.

“Honey you are everything God knew we needed to be the best leader of our fam🤍 happy birthday cutie pie (**last Wednesday)! and happy album release (**last Friday)!” she wrote. “YOU ARE THE BEST THING IN OUR LIFE🥰 and we are SO proud of you!!! We love celebrating you babe!”