When Trisha Yearwood married Garth Brooks in 2005, she not only became a wife, but also a “bonus mom” to Brooks’ three daughters, Allie, August, and Taylor, from his previous marriage to Sandy Mahl.
In a recent interview, Yearwood got honest about her role as a “bonus mom” and admitted her new title didn’t always come easy.
The three-time GRAMMY winner never had any kids of her own, so marrying Brooks meant she was not only committing to him, but his children as well. She says she had to learn to become more of a selfless person now that she had three bonus daughters to take care of.
“When you don’t have children, you have the luxury of being selfish, because it’s just about you. You don’t have to think about somebody else first,” Yearwood explained to SheKnows. “And as an artist, it’s easy to be really egocentric because your job is to be thinking about your career, what you have to do next, how you’re going to take yourself to the next level. So to get out of that space and to realize that it doesn’t matter what I have going on, it was a real lesson for me.”
Yearwood has now been a part of Brooks’ daughter’s lives for over 16 years. They’ve been through a lot together and she’s watched them grown from girls to young women. Now, they’re closer than ever and it’s something Yearwood says she’ll be forever grateful for.
“It was a gift that I received from Garth and the girls of having them in a life that I didn’t even know I was missing, you know, and I can’t imagine my life without them,” Yearwood sweetly shared.
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And don’t go using the term “stepmom” around Yearwood. She prefers to be called a “bonus mom.”
“When I think stepmom, I think Cinderella, you know, so I always prefer bonus mom,” she explained. “Jada Pinkett Smith told me years ago, she’s like, ‘you’re a bonus mom, don’t call yourself something else.’ So I’ve taken that and run with it.”
