The Tennessean (Jan. 16th 2003)

Wedding bells: No, her name isn't 'Austin'

Country singer Blake Shelton is marrying his longtime lady, Kaynette (Kat) Williams, a school teacher he met in his hometown of Ada, Okla., a tiny town some 90 minutes away from Oklahoma City.

A pig brought the two together.

Seems Blake has always enjoyed hunting, even when he was a high school boy. When he and his buddies went to hunt wild boars, they came across a sow that had just given birth to a litter. Blake, 16, scooped up one of the babies and took it to a photographer buddy. That buddy just happened to have a teen secretary by the name of Kat, and now you know the rest of the story.

So what happened to the pig? Blake gave it to his hairdresser mother, who really wasn't interested in pork for a pet.

"But Mom owned a beauty shop, and pretty soon, the girls had pierced its ear and painted its hoofs, so she kept him," Blake said yesterday.

The pig was named "Blakey."

Tune in tomorrow for the incredibly romantic story of how Blake popped the question.