No, Florida Georgia Line is not splitting up. But differing political views did lead Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley to temporarily take a break from one another on social media.
Earlier this month, Hubbard, 33, and his wife Hayley briefly unfollowed Kelley, 35, and his wife Brittney on Instagram, which raised fans' eyebrows and got the rumor mill swirling with questions about the duo's partnership. The Hubbards expressed their support for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, while Kelley told a fan that he did not vote for the Democratic candidates and called public celebrations after the result was announced "a s— show" on his Instagram Stories.
Recently, the "Long Live" singers, who have since re-followed each other, spoke with SiriusXM's Storme Warren on the Exit 209 with Storme Warren show to address the status of their relationship, including what caused them to unfollow one another.
"Somebody sent me an article two days ago that me and BK were breaking up and I thought, 'Well, that's news to me.' I unfollowed BK for a few days while we were through this political … in the middle of this election and everything going on," Hubbard explained. "I even called him and told him, I said, 'Hey buddy, I love you. And I love you a lot more in real life than on your stories right now. So that's why I'm unfollowing you. Nothing personal. I still love you. You're still my brother.' I just didn't want to see it every time I opened Instagram. And so it wasn't a big deal."
The father of three, who recently reunited with his family after testing positive for COVID-19, added, "We're on great terms. We're feeling stronger than ever. We're loving and supporting each other through even all the chapters that we're in now and excited for the future. But thought it was pretty humorous and entertaining that somebody took the time to notice that in the first place and then turn it into a story that FGL is breaking up. That being said, we can't wait to go on tour next year together."
Kelley also shared that it's been business as usual. "We were literally on a call yesterday, just showing up the last details of our record and working on getting some touring cities out here soon and a couple of announcements, but that came through in the middle of our team call and we're just like, 'Well, that's interesting we are on a phone call together right now talking about the future.' So pretty interesting," he said.
The men, who have worked together since 2012, also laughed about their rumored rift with Hubbard joking, "I might unfollow BK again tomorrow just to keep the media talking about it," and Kelley saying, "We are going to go full WWE on this thing."
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Also during the interview, Hubbard likened dealing with political differences to family members with opposing views. "We've always said we really complement each other well — we're a lot different, but we're also a lot alike, and fundamentally we do think a lot alike. Politics is created innately to divide. There's a right and a left and there is no middle, there might be a middle, but ultimately politics is created for division," he said.
"As it relates to politics, we might have different views or [a] different set of opinions or the way we perceive our leaders, but ultimately we're a lot alike and we think a lot alike. We both believe in God and we both put our faith in him and we know that he's in control over Donald Trump or Joe Biden. So we're voting Jesus and our world and trusting that He's in control and letting our risks come there."
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Fans may be surprised to hear about FGL's differences, but Hubbard said he and Kelley have a history of working on their personal friendship over the years. "We have been on a 10-year relationship, a 10-year partnership, a 10-year commitment to each other. And yes, there have been hard times. It's not all sugar-coated," he said.
"And so the truth is — and I think this is important to talk about — me and BK have done work. We've [gone] to therapy, we've sat with each other and wanted to kill each other at times. But by the end of it, we were hugging it out. You know what I mean? Because we're brothers and that's what brothers do. And brothers don't always get along," Hubbard continued.
"We've had moments where we want to kill each other, but a lot of it's out of love. We put that first and foremost and we know the importance of our relationship and how much love we have for each other. Over the years, we've worked to become stronger and stronger and stronger, and that's even through the hard times, it's made us stronger as friends and brothers and partners. So we're really thankful for it," he added.
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Hubbard and Kelley, who are getting ready to release their fifth studio album, recently signed a multi-year deal with Live Nation for touring in North America. Dates for new concerts are expected to kick off in May 2021.
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