Carly Pearce revealed how she met her “hot boyfriend” Riley King during a recent conversation with Audacy’s Rob Stone and Holly Hutton.
The “What He Didn’t Do” singer shared more about her relationship with King while appearing on an episode of Friday Night Takeover.
“Let me talk about your boyfriend. What a hunk,” Hutton told Pearce.
“He’s hot,” Pearce agreed.
“Yeah. How did you guys meet?” Hutton asked.
“We met through mutual friends. I guess we’ve been together over a year or so, somewhere before that,” Pearce said. “And yeah, I just kind of kept him a slight bit quiet until I kissed him on national television when I won Female Vocalist of the Year [at the 2021 CMA’s]. I guess I thought that was smart to do,” she joked.
King, a former MLB player turned realtor, accompanied Pearce to the 2021 CMA’s. Pearce was so shocked when she won the award for Female Vocalist of the Year that she immediately turned to King and gave him a quick peck on the lips before walking up to the stage to accept the honor.
Since then, Pearce and King have been a bit more public about their relationship with the pair sharing photos of each other on Instagram and King accompanying the singer to more award shows, including the 2022 ACM’s and CMT Awards.
Pearce, who was previously married to fellow country singer Michael Ray, explained that she wanted to do things different with King and keep their relationship “quiet” for a little bit.
“I was trying to keep [my new relationship] quiet for a while, just to do it a little different than I have in my past,” Pearce told Hutton and Stone. “He’s hot. Hot boyfriend summer, what’s good?!,” she continued.
Pearce and King’s PDA-filled moment at the CMA’s isn’t the only time the singer has paid tribute to her man.
Back in April, Pearce shared a heartfelt birthday message on Instagram in honor of King.
“Happy Birthday to my sweetie! You’ve made the last year so special for me & I hope this is your best year yet,” Pearce captioned the photo of her and King hugging with a tour vehicle behind them. “Swipe right for my favorite photo of you,” she continued, adding 🥰, ♥️, and 🎂 emojis. In the second photo, King can be seen holding Pearce’s Shih Tzu pups, Johnny and June.
Career-wise, Pearce recently checked off a bucket-list item when she brought Wynonna Judd on stage during this year’s CMA Fest to sing the Judd’s song, “Why Not Me.” She’ll also be headlining two shows at country music’s Mother Church, the Ryman Auditorium this fall.
Pearce is currently serving as support on Kenny Chesney’s Here And Now Tour alongside Old Dominion and Dan + Shay.
Her latest single, “What He Didn’t Do” from her third studio album 29: Written In Stone impacted country radio on Jun. 13 and was the most-added song with an all-time total of 52 adds.
