Who Is HARDY's Wife? All About Caleigh Ryan

It was love at first sight for HARDY (born Michael Wilson Hardy) and his wife Caleigh Ryan.

Their romance began on Instagram in 2018 when HARDY entered Ryan’s DMs. At the time, they were living on opposite sides of the country — HARDY was on tour with Florida Georgia Line and Ryan was a student at the University of Mississippi. The couple didn’t officially meet face-to-face until he got a gig at a theater near Ryan’s college, and they’ve been together ever since.

The couple celebrated their first wedding anniversary in October 2023, but HARDY told PEOPLE he was sure about Ryan early on in their relationship.

“I loved her after our third date,” he said. “It was the most real thing I’ve ever experienced. I actually told her I loved her at Stagecoach, out in the crowd.”

Although her husband is known as a genre-bending artist, Ryan told PEOPLE she feels lucky to know the famous musician’s “softer side.”

“He is very caring and very considerate and a loving person,” she said. “A lot of people don’t see that. It just makes it even more special to be able to share those moments and sides of his personality with him.”

In May 2024, HARDY told PEOPLE that he and Ryan plan to expand their little family. “We are thinking about getting a cat and a dog,” he said. “I think we’ll get a Tibetan Mastiff.”

So who is HARDY’s wife? Here’s everything you need to know about Caleigh Ryan and her relationship with the country singer.

She met HARDY through Instagram

Caleigh Ryan and HARDY pose for a picture together in 2018.

HARDY Instagram

HARDY first laid eyes on Ryan when she appeared on his “For You” Instagram page, and he sent the San Diego resident a private message.

“We just started talking about San Diego and her going to Ole Miss and my family at Mississippi State,” HARDY told PEOPLE. “We stayed in touch until I had a gig near her school and told her I’d like to meet her there.”

The couple officially met when HARDY played at The Lyric Oxford, a local venue near the University of Mississippi campus. Ryan recalled that she “dragged” her roommates to go with her for moral support.

“I saw him walk in the door and I was like, ‘Oh my God’. I was just drinking my drink — I was so nervous,” she recalled after the initial jitters wore off, HARDY and Ryan became inseparable and started dating 19 . April 2018.

When we met, there wasn’t really anyone else, Ryan said. “We never entertained anyone else. It was that simple.”

He has experience in marketing

HARDY and Caleigh Ryan.

Caleigh Ryan’s Instagram

Ryan graduated from the University of Mississippi in 2019 with a BA in Marketing and Corporate Relations.

When she first exchanged messages with HARDY, she was in the third grade, and although they had mentioned the possibility of marriage at the beginning of their relationship, her education was a priority. Ryan told PEOPLE that it’s important for him to finish school and establish his career before they walk down the aisle.

While in college, Ryan was a student ambassador for several brands, including Kellogg and A&E’s Lifetime, promoting events on campus. According to her LinkedIn profile, she is in the hospitality industry as a marketing coordinator for Graduate Hotels in Nashville.

She and HARDY got engaged in 2021

Hardy and Caleigh Ryan attend the 57th Academy of Country Music Awards in March 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Denise Truscello/Getty

After three years of dating, HARDY asked Ryan to marry him on August 23, 2021. The special moment took place where they first met, at the historic Lyric Theater in Oxford, Mississippi, where HARDY got down on one knee surrounded by rose petals .

“I’m not her boyfriend anymore ❤️,” HARDY wrote on Instagram, along with a photo from the proposal. The caption was also a sweet nod to the love song HARDY wrote inspired by Ryan and their relationship.

In a previous interview with PEOPLE, the country artist said his song “Boyfriend” came about when he and Ryan were on vacation in Clearwater, Florida. The two were in the pool playing with each other when HARDY jokingly said, “Okay, I don’t want to be your boyfriend anymore.” ”

Although Ryan had a humorous comeback, HARDY saw a musical opportunity. “She said something along the lines of ‘It would be better because you want to be my husband’ and winked,” he recalled. “I looked at it and instead of turning it into a really sweet moment, I was like, ‘This is a great song!’ ”

HARDY quickly got to work tinkering with the chords and writing the rest of the lyrics. When he finally played the finished song for Ryan, HARDY said she “loved it”.

She and HARDY were married in 2022

HARDY and Caleigh Ryan on their wedding day in October 2022. Brooke Taelor

HARDY and Ryan were married on October 29, 2022 in front of 350 of their closest friends and family at Diamond Creek Farms in Nashville. The bride wore a custom-designed dress by Naama & Anat and Haut Bridal, which she swapped for a mini “coming out dress” for their after party following the reception. The newlyweds also decided to do a first look and share their vows in private before the ceremony.

“We want the ceremony to last about 30 seconds. We just want to have a big party for everyone,” HARDY exclusively told PEOPLE ahead of the big day.

He added: “I’m trying to avoid a complete meltdown in front of everyone, and I don’t think I could get through the vows at the altar, and she’s the same. The vows will be for us. It doesn’t have to be for everyone else.”

The party was full of A-list guests, one of the highlights being singer-songwriter Smith Ahnquist, who married the couple. In addition to the DJ and live band, the couple also had a tattoo booth where guests could get a love or wedding themed tattoo.

Their first dance as a married couple was to Journey’s “Faithfully,” which resonated with HARDY when they heard it on a road trip after two months of dating. He revealed he was “choking up” thinking about the potential struggle to balance his rising career and new relationship.

“There’s a line in ‘Faithful’ that says, ‘They say the road is no place to start a family,’ and that line just shook me because I was really worried,” he said. “Now, years later, we’ve managed to balance all those things.”

“But it was such a big moment for me because how much that sentence hit me made me realize how much I love her. I always wanted to make sure she came before all of that,” HARDY added.

She and HARDY live in Nashville

HARDY and Caleigh Ryan are moving into their first home together in Nashville.

Caleigh Ryan’s Instagram

HARDY and Ryan moved into their first apartment together the summer before their wedding, settling in Nashville.

“THEY WERE ROOMMATES TOO!!!!!” Ryan wrote on Instagram, alongside photos of her and HARDY posing outside their new front door.

While the couple is “very unhappy” about the milestone, Ryan revealed on Overflow podcast that Music City isn’t necessarily their forever home. As for moving, Ryan said she wouldn’t mind moving to Florida.

“I don’t see us leaving anytime soon. We have our home and we love the city,” she said. “It would take us a lot to leave now, but we don’t mind.”

It is open to join Real housewives franchise

HARDY and Caleigh Ryan at the 2023 CMT Music Awards in Austin, Texas.

Rick Kern/Getty

While appearing on Overflow podcast, Ryan admitted that she could see herself joining Bravo Real housewives franchise if it expands to Nashville — though she’s hesitant about how that would affect her personal life.

“I feel like it’s the kiss of death,” she said, who described herself as a “Bravo freak” earlier in the interview. Ryan noted that the show tends to “blow up” the lives of returning cast members if “it goes on long enough”.

When asked what type of housewife she would be, she channeled her inner Vicki Gunvalson for her answer. “I would be the girl that would be my thing,” Ryan explained. “I’d try to get us on a party bus, go down Broadway every day and play pedal taverns.”

As for HARDY, Ryan believes he would be supportive. “He would be into it,” she said. “I think he would think it was funny.”

She was there for HARDY in everything

HARDY and Caleigh Ryan attend the 15th Annual Academy of Country Music Honors in August 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Jason Kempin/Getty

In October 2023, HARDY shared via Instagram that he was experiencing “severe anxiety” that caused “panic attacks” and led to his hospitalization. The “Truck Bed” singer explained that it was the result of a serious accident with a tour bus in which he was involved the previous year.

In the following days, Ryan took to her Instagram Story to thank fans for their kind words and unwavering support for HARDY’s health.

“It can be really scary to put intimate parts of your life out there, so thank you for being so understanding with my hubby,” she wrote to Country Now. “If anything, just hearing how many people are going through this or know someone who is struggling gives an immediate sense of community. Just remember you are never alone! Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

She is HARDY’s greatest muse and critic

HARDY and Caleigh Ryan attend the 14th Annual Academy of Country Music Honors in August 2021 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Jason Kempin/Getty

While promoting his debut album Rock, In 2020, HARDY teased that his harshest critic is also one of his biggest inspirations in the lyrics.

“We’ve been together for over two years, so now she’s my biggest critic,” he told PEOPLE of Ryan. “She won’t hold back and tell me if she likes me.”

Ryan has inspired several songs throughout HARDY’s career, including “i in the country” and “wait in the truck” — not all of which are love songs.

Speaking to Music Mayhem magazine, he admitted that “wait in the truck” is about a guy who turned on Ryan during one of HARDY’s shows and his reaction. “She told me about it and I got really fired up and made a comment about waiting in the truck.”

HARDY also shared why “i in country” reminds him of his wife.

“I think the song preaches that I know how to do a lot of things in this life, but what’s the point of doing it if I can’t share it with someone?” He said. “And that’s kind of the message she’s conveying and I really feel that way with her.”

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Source: HIS Education