For years, American Idol has been making dreams come true for aspiring talents across the nation. While stars are born each season, these two young singers found something even more special.
Love At First Sight
On the 16th season of American Idol, two young talents caught each other’s eye from the very first greeting. Pennsylvania-native Gabby Barrett took the season by storm with her powerhouse vocals even getting compliments from Idol alum, Carrie Underwood. Her former contestant, Texas-native Cade Foehner, brought high energy to the competition with his rock-inspired vocals.
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It wasn’t long before these two young talents had taken notice in one another – taking on the journey together.
The Engagement
Following Idol, Barrett and Foehner’s relationship only continued to blossom. While the pair took a trip out to Los Angeles to meet with their pastor for pre-marital counseling, they found themselves in a familiar area. Barett told PEOPLE,
“The hotel we were staying at while we were there was the same one me and Cade met and hung out in for the first time during Idol. So I told Cade we have to go back and check out the room and he agreed.”
Then a magical moment unfolded.
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The couple was taking a mini-photoshoot for a friend’s portfolio and the photographer suggested they take photos in the room where they first met. Without hesitation, they began capturing memories.
“She started taking the pictures and then she said, ‘Hold on I need to switch lenses.’ Cade started saying all these sweet things and I didn’t think anything of it because he normally does it all the time,” Barnett told PEOPLE. “But I noticed he kept going on and on and then he eventually said, ‘I want to spend the rest of my life with you.’ Then he got down on one knee and he asked and I said, ‘Yes!'”
Barrett was completely surprised and Foehner even admitted he had no plans of proposing during this particular trip. But after being in the room they met he thought, “It can’t get any more right than this.”
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Foehner gushed about his decision to propose to his young love,
“I’ve been thinking about proposing for quite a while. It’s getting harder and harder to be apart. Doing all the traveling we have to do, sometimes we have to go a month without seeing each other. That’s a little much for me, so I decided to go ahead and do this thing!”
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While a wedding date hasn’t been picked yet, the couple did spill on who will be for sure getting an invite – including the Idol judges!
“The judges are like family to us,” Barrett told PEOPLE. “Idol was the very beginning of our love story and we would love for all of our family to be there.”
These love birds couldn’t look any happier together! Congrats to the beautiful couple.