Madison Prewett, a former contestant on "The Bachelor," has shared that her marriage to Grant Troutt has been profoundly transformed by a nightly ritual of prayer. She described this practice as more intimate than physical intimacy and a key to navigating the challenges of married life.
Prewett, who gained national recognition in 2020 on season 24 of "The Bachelor," married Troutt, the son of billionaire businessman Kenny Troutt, in 2022. The couple has since welcomed a daughter. Since stepping away from reality television, Prewett has focused on her Christian faith, marriage, and motherhood.
In an appearance on "The Riley Gaines Show," Prewett admitted that her first year of marriage was unexpectedly difficult. The couple faced multiple significant life changes simultaneously, including relocating, starting new jobs, and building a new social circle. "It was a lot of new at one time," she stated.
She explained that marriage served as a mirror, revealing aspects of herself she had previously overlooked. "This person seeing you so up close, and they're seeing the best of you and the worst of you," Prewett said. "And so that first year was really, really hard."
Initially, Prewett's prayers focused on her husband, wishing for him to change. "I was like, 'Oh Lord, please change him. Please change him and show him how to love me because he ain't loving me well,'" she recalled.
However, this perspective shifted as she began to examine her own role in the relationship. The Holy Spirit, she felt, convicted her heart, leading her to believe she was not embodying the role of a godly wife. This realization prompted her to pray for God's help in becoming the wife she felt called to be, rather than solely focusing on her husband's perceived shortcomings.
The couple then began praying together every night. Prewett emphasized the unity this practice created, drawing a parallel to sexual intimacy as a unifying force, but positing spiritual intimacy as the most profound. "Anything that you can do that just cultivates such a spiritual closeness and unity and intimacy. And so for us, that's praying together often [is important]," she said.
Prewett also highlighted the practice of taking communion together as another shared spiritual activity that strengthens their bond. She cautioned that couples can easily drift into separate spiritual practices if they are not intentional about sharing their faith. Creating shared spiritual moments, she believes, is "one of the most beautiful, powerful, uniting, unifying things that we can do."
Beyond her marriage, Prewett has also taken a step back from social media, announcing a hiatus since January. Her husband, Grant, initiated the move, and she followed suit. "It's like a family thing," she noted.
After approximately eight months away from the platforms, Prewett described the experience as freeing and transformative, allowing her to be more present in her daily life. She recalled how her life changed significantly after "The Bachelor" catapulted her into the public eye, leading to a period of healing. "When I came off the show and just having this platform, having all these opinions about me, there was just a lot of healing that needed to happen over the time, over the past four years or so."
Stepping away from social media, she explained, allowed her to decouple her identity from external validation, criticism, or productivity. "I just wanted to be at this place where I'm like, ‘Maddie is enough as a mom, as a wife, as a friend, as a human being, apart from anything she can produce that is seen and praised by other people or criticized and hated by other people,’" Prewett stated.
This break has also enabled her to spend more focused time with her daughter. While she is unsure if or when she will return to social media, Prewett described the hiatus as one of the best decisions she has made, finding it incredibly freeing and healing. Her podcast, "Stay True," maintains a social media presence managed by another individual, and she does not keep the apps on her phone.
When asked if she missed social media, Prewett was direct: "I don't miss anything." She admitted that the hiatus forced her to confront her own desire to be seen and relevant, a battle she finds herself constantly fighting.