Madi Prewett Troutt is getting candid about “the power of communicating” as she navigates her first year of marriage with Grant Troutt.
“When we first got married, I think I expected him to just know all of my needs and desires and that was very unfair to him,” the Bachelor alum, 27, told Us Weekly exclusively while promoting her partnership with Upward Christian Dating. “And so I finally had to get to a point where I was like, ‘Hey, when I come home from a three or four-day trip, I would love to have the whole evening with just you. I want us to eat a meal together. I want us to ask intentional questions together and just enjoy an evening.’ And I had to really learn to communicate that because that wasn’t something he just could understand on his own. So we’ve learned the importance of communication through trial and error, like, the moments where we’ve done just such a bad job of it and the moments we’ve crushed it. And I think just having grace for each other and patience for each other is so important.”
Madi and Grant, also 27, wed in October 2022 after less than a year of dating, waiting until marriage to move in together.
“I had to learn very early on, ‘Hey, like, don’t take life so seriously.’ [Grant is] not God, so he’s gonna fail me and he’s going to let me down and I’m not gonna meet his every need all the time, and he’s not gonna meet my every need all the time. And that’s why my hope is not in him,” she continued. “And I think that’s really, really important as a believer — to make sure that you are seeking that relationship with God. And if you’re trying to find all of your hope, all of your worth, all of your value, all of your purpose, everything in a person and in a relationship with another human, it’s gonna continue to let you down.”
Madison Prewett at the ‘Redeeming Love’ film screening Rob Latour/Shutterstock
The former ABC star credits early morning prayer with how she approaches conflict with her spouse.
“I wake up, I go have my time with God. I have a prayer closet and I get in my prayer closet and I pray and I just spend time reading the Bible and just, like, filling myself up and reminding myself of what’s most important. And then from that place, I’m able to really be the wife that God’s called me to be and to really love him well and to meet his needs. And I think we’ve both seen the importance of that, especially when conflict arises,” she told Us. “If I have not spent time with the Lord and if I have not reminded myself of what’s most important, that’s where a really, you know, not-so-pretty side of Madi can come out and I can just be really selfish and just have such unfair expectations. And so that’s why it’s really important for me to kind of get my heart right in the mornings and to just align myself with the Lord and kind of love from that place.”
Madi and Grant met in late 2021 and got engaged in July 2022.
“I actually came off [The Bachelor] and had gotten in a relationship right after, and then that relationship ended and then I was just enjoying my singleness and then I met my husband Grant through mutual friends,” she told Us. “So I never got to the point where I found myself kind of, like, wrestling with that thought of, ‘Should I download [an] app?’ But I have friends who are at that point, so I have encouraged them. I’m like, ‘You should check it out!’”
Madi is now teaming up with Upward Christian Dating to help single Christians find The One.
“I think one of the hardest things about dating is you’re going on a date and you haven’t asked all those, like, hard questions. ‘Where’s your faith? What are your values? How were you raised? What do you hope for your future?’ And I think something that’s cool is with Upward, you know, you’re kind of already doing that front work early on,” she explained. “And so you’re able to get on this app and know when you’re looking at some of these people — sure there’s different levels — but hopefully everyone on this app has the same beliefs and values.”
She added: “I think one thing that we can do often as Christians is just wait for God to just drop something in our lap. And I think sometimes we have to realize [that] we have to step out of the boat and we have to take a step of faith and courage. … Set yourself up for success by putting yourself in situations and environments to meet the right people.”