Tim McGraw is the godfather of Emma Roberts’ newborn son, Rhodes

Garrett admitted he looks up to the singer and actor after they worked together in 2004’s ‘Friday Night Lights’ and 2010’s ‘Country Strong’, and so couldn’t think of a better man to take on the role.

He said: "He's somebody that I admire and respect, not only as an amazing father and an amazing husband, amazing musician and amazing actor … I've known him for a long time.

"We laugh about it because it's probably been over 17 years since we did ‘Friday Night Light’s together, we played father and son. So I got to first experience him as a father - in that film, somewhat more of an abusive one - but then we did ‘Country Strong’ together, and we've remained such close friends and, you know, I've seen his children, his daughters, from the time they were one, three, and five.”

Tim has three daughters of his own - Gracie, 23, Maggie, 22, and Audrey, 19 – with his wife Faith Hill, and Garrett said the star’s own experience with fatherhood helped land him the position of godfather to Rhodes.

Speaking during an appearance on ‘The Kelly Clarkson Show’, he said: “He's the best. After around 12 weeks of Emma being pregnant, I called him, and the first thing he said was, 'I'm the godfather.' So, how can you argue?"

Meanwhile, Emma took to social media to debut the first picture of Rhodes in January, where she described him as a "bright light" and revealed his middle name is Robert.

She wrote: "Thank you 2020 for getting one thing right sun emoji] Our bright light Rhodes Robert Hedlund [heart emoji] (sic)"