Trace Adkins stepped onto the country music scene in a big way in the ’90s and has since released 10 studio albums and dozens of chart-topping singles.
The multi-hyphenate superstar, who also boasts acting and writing skills, admitted he was proud of daughter Mackenzie, 26, for maintaining a neutral outlook during an arduous casting process for the reality show “Claim to Fame.”
Mackenzie revealed to her father that she was first contacted by a casting agency through direct message on social media and went through a back-and-forth process that made her hesitant to believe she was actually being cast for a television show.
“I’m glad you’ve learned something. That’s the way you have to always deal with everything Hollywood,” Adkins told Mackenzie during an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital. “Because, yeah, I’ve had so many things, and most of which I’ve forgotten about, but there have been so many, so many things in my career that were connected to Hollywood. And they never happened.”
While Adkins is mostly known for three decades of success as a country singer, he’s also worked in the film and television world for years. Most recently, the “You’re Gonna Miss This” crooner starred alongside Susan Sarandon in the FOX family drama “Monarch,” but Trace has credits on the big screen in “The Lincoln Lawyer,” “The Outsider” and “Wyatt Earp’s Revenge,” to name a few.
“They tell you, ‘Oh, yeah, we’re going to do this. We’re going to do that, and it’s this is moving along,'” Adkins said. “And then all of a sudden, one day you realize, well, I haven’t heard from those people in six months. And it just went away.”
Mackenzie agreed that’s how she felt talking to the casting company before she left to film the show.
“I looked it up, and I watched both the seasons and I made sure it was a real show,” she said. “But I did, like, so many interviews, and I met so many different casting directors and … producers were calling me, telling me, ‘You’re in the top 25, you’re in the top 15, you’ve made the top couple; we’re not sure yet.’ So, I was like, I don’t want to get that excited, and then it not happen.”
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She only gave her family a one-day notice about what she was doing before she moved out and with little information to back up her story.
“I was, you know, a little concerned, but, you know, I assumed that if she was going to be with these people out there, that she would probably be OK,” Adkins said.
Mackenzie added, “And I told you halfway through.”
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“I thought she got kicked off the show because, you know, she wasn’t going to have her phone,” Adkins said. “So, about halfway through, she called me, and I went, ‘Oh no.’”
On “Claim to Fame,” contestants with famous relatives live together in a private residence and must decipher who each contestant may be related to while also keeping their own celebrity backing a secret.
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Throughout the show, contestants compete in challenges, which include clues towards celebrity affiliations, where winning teams can vote for lower-ranked competition performers to guess who may be the celebrity any one person is connected to. If the person who guesses is wrong, they are eliminated from the show.
Mackenzie made it to the finals with two challengers by her side: Adam Christoferson (Michael Bolton’s nephew) and Hud Mellencamp (John Mellencamp’s son).
Hud and Mackenzie became close during the show, a budding friendship that carried over into real life. The pair even had their famous fathers meet at a finale viewing party.
“He was at the watch party with his dad, and dad was there, and we were all together. It was great,” Mackenzie said.
Growing up the daughter of a country music legend never really phased Mackenzie, anyway. She’s the oldest of three daughters with his ex, Rhonda Forlaw Adkins. Trace also has Tarah and Sarah with ex Barbara Lewis.
“He’s always just been dad,” Mackenzie said. “He was always on the road when we were little. I mean, I’ve been going on the road with him since I was born, essentially. We were out every summer. Once I was in school, every single summer we were out on the road with dad. I’ve definitely just been used to it.”
Trace added, “I can’t even imagine how strange it must be to have grown up backstage at the Grand Ole Opry. I mean, you know, since she was big enough to walk and all her sisters and … it’s just that’s the way they grew up. They don’t know anything else.
“They’re not impressed. They’re not impressed by me now. I would say, if I can kick the soccer ball all the way over the house, then they’re impressed. But they’re not impressed by the other stuff.”
