Carrie Underwood and her husband, Mike Fisher, will celebrate their 13th wedding anniversary this summer. The American Idol alum and former professional hockey player met backstage at one of her concerts, after being introduced by her band member, Mark Childers, although by her own admission, Underwood didn’t have high expectations, at least at first.
“I’m a skeptic anyway, and I feel like I’ve got walls up to start with,” Underwood reveals on SiriusXM‘s The Howard Stern Show. “The wall’s already up, and a person has to get through those.”
When the two finally did meet, sparks began to fly, although the beginning of their relationship happened while they were both on the road.
“We met in October and then we talked on the phone for a few months before we went out on our first date,” Underwood recalls. “It was good, it kind of laid some foundation … Neither one of us are talkers. We are very comfortable with silence. I’m comfortable in my silence.”
Underwood was by then already a bona fide superstar, but her celebrity status did little to dissuade Fisher, who was excelling in the NHL as well.
“I don’t think so, because it’s not like he did nohing,” Underwood says, when asked if he was intimidated by her fame. “He worked hard at what he did for 20 years. He was playing, I was touring — it was craziness when we were both doing what we do. … Just YouTube ‘Mike Fisher hockey fights’ and then you’ll see why he’s secure in his masculinity. He’s not afraid to throw down.”
Perhaps surprisingly, it was Underwood who made the first move for their first official date together.
“It was New Year’s Eve, and there was a team party,” Underwood remembers. “I actually invited myself to the team party. He moved slow. He moved very slow, and I was like, ‘You know, New Year’s Eve’s coming up. Are you doing anything?’ He’s like, ‘There’s a team party.’ I said, ‘Do you need a date?’
Not only did Underwood invite herself along for what became their first official date, but she was also the one to initiate their first kiss as well.
“Our first kiss was when the ball dropped,” Underwood previously (via Country Living). “We were in front of people, and he’s not a big PDA guy … I figured, I’ll go in for it because he can’t leave me hanging, right? So I made him kiss me in public.”
Underwood will launch her own SiriusXM channel, Carrie’s Country, in June. The channel will feature her music, plus music of artists who have inspired her and helped shape her own career. She will also play songs by other artists, of all genres, whom she enjoys listening to today, including Keith Urban, Dolly Parton, Brad Paisley, Miranda Lambert, AC/DC, Guns N’ Roses, The Rolling Stones, and more.
Find music and tour dates, and more information about Carrie’s Country, at CarrieUnderwoodOfficial.com.