Garth met Trisha in 1988

Garth Brooks opened up about the heartwarming and hilarious first meeting between his daughters and his now-wife Trisha Yearwood during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday night.

The country music icon gave fans a glimpse into his family dynamics, recounting how his daughters—Taylor, August, and Allie—welcomed Trisha into their tight-knit family in a way that only they could: with laughter, love, and a whole lot of spaghetti.

Garth explained that before popping the question to Trisha, he wanted to make sure his three daughters, whom he shares with his ex-wife Sandy Mahl, were fully on board. His respect for his girls’ opinions and their place in his life is one of the many things that make him not just a country music superstar but also a devoted dad.

“So first of all, I have to ask the three girls their permission to get married,” Garth shared. “So we go out to a nice dinner, me and the three girls. And I’m trying to explain to them that I would like to marry Ms. Yearwood.”

It was a poignant moment, underscored by Garth’s humility and sense of family responsibility. He didn’t just want their blessing—he wanted them to feel empowered in this new chapter of their family life. But, in true Brooks fashion, he brought his signature humor into the mix, telling his daughters that they’d need to look after Trisha if something ever happened to him.

© NBC
Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood on The Jay Leno Show

“I said, but you girls have to take care of her. If something happens to me, she’s your responsibility,” he recalled. The table, he admitted, got quiet as the gravity of the situation set in. Then, Allie, his youngest daughter, broke the tension with a perfectly timed quip.

“She said, ‘We’ve got your back, bra strap,'” Garth said with a laugh. And just like that, the conversation shifted from serious to spirited, a testament to the playful bond Garth shares with his daughters.

© Instagram/Allie Brooks
Trisha with Garth’s two youngest daughters and their mom Sandy

With the girls’ approval secured, Garth’s daughters wasted no time planning how they would welcome Trisha into the family fold.

They decided that the best way to make her feel at home was to cook her dinner—a touching gesture, but one that came with an unexpected twist. The girls had another idea in mind for their soon-to-be stepmom’s inaugural dinner: an event they affectionately called ‘Eat Like Dog Night.’

Garth explained the quirky family tradition, which involves abandoning utensils, throwing table manners to the wind, and diving into plates of spaghetti with only your hands and face. “We just had to have some fun at the house,” he said. “So you just make spaghetti, and the mildest sauce you can, you say your prayer, bang your fork three times on the thing, throw it over your shoulder, and just go in.”

The girls insisted that Trisha’s first dinner with them be an Eat Like Dog Night, and while Garth initially tried to veto the idea, he quickly learned where the power truly lies in his household. “We have a democracy in our house,” he joked. “And I said, we’re going to put this to a vote. Three to one, I got voted down. They always have the power.”

When Trisha arrived for the dinner, Garth worried that the unconventional tradition might scare her away. After all, Eat Like Dog Night was far from your average meet-the-family dinner. But to his relief—and probably a little surprise—Trisha embraced the madness in the most unforgettable way.

“So Ms. Yearwood came, we counted, we threw the forks over,” Garth said. His daughters dove right in, demonstrating how to fully commit to the chaos. “Me and Taylor and Al, they just went right in,” he said, referring to his two oldest daughters. “Ms. Yearwood was not sure.”

At this point, the story took an even funnier turn. As Trisha hesitated, Garth’s middle daughter, August, decided to take matters into her own hands—literally. “August stood up on her chair, put both her hands on Trisha’s head, and just, boom, right down there, into the thing,” Garth recounted, gesturing as though he were smashing someone’s face into a plate of spaghetti.

© Getty Images
Trisha and Garth married in 2005

Garth admitted that at that moment, he feared the worst. “I thought, well, that’s the last date. That’s it,” he said, imagining Trisha walking away from the Brooks family spaghetti spectacle and never looking back. But then something magical happened.

“In no time at all, I saw this hand come up and grab August’s head, and went, boom, right into it,” Garth said, laughing. “Those two have been peas and carrots ever since that night.”

Garth and Trisha’s love story began in 1988 when they first met, but they were both involved in other relationships: Trisha was married to Christopher Latham from 1987 to 1991, and later to Bobby Reynolds from 1994 to 1999. Garth was married to Sandy Mahl from 1986 to 2001.

Trisha and Garth’s paths later reconvened and in 2005 Garth proposed to Trisha on stage, in front of 7,000 people. Recounting the moment, Trisha said: “I was very surprised that’s what happened that night.” They tied the knot on December 10, 2005.