Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Mike Fisher, Carrie Underwood romantically linked

 

 
 
 
 
Former American Idol singer Carrie Underwood, left, and Ottawa Senators centre Mike Fisher are dating.
 

Former American Idol singer Carrie Underwood, left, and Ottawa Senators centre Mike Fisher are dating.

Photograph by: Reuters/The Ottawa Citizen, Citizen archives

OTTAWA — Romance is in the air at Scotiabank Place.

Ottawa Senators centre Mike Fisher and former American Idol singer Carrie Underwood are dating and the love match has apparently been going strong for months.

Ms. Underwood, 25, was at the Sens-Toronto Maple Leafs game Saturday night where the Jumbotron “Hug Cam” at the Air Canada Centre spotted her in a private VIP box hugging two people sitting next to her. Mr. Fisher’s parents and his brother, Bud, also a hockey player, were in the box watching the team go down to the Leafs in a 3-1 battle.

The romance apparently began after Mr. Fisher, 28, went backstage following Ms. Underwood’s March 21 concert at Scotiabank Place where she performed before 7,700 country fans. The couple hit it off, say observers, and then began dating some time after their initial meeting.

The struggling Ottawa Senators are in Buffalo for a game Tuesday night against the Sabres. Reached Monday at practice, Mr. Fisher declined to talk to reporters about his romance with the country singer who is a multi-platinum recording artist and Grammy-award winner.

“I can’t comment on anything in my personal life, so that’s about all I can say. I don’t really want to say anything,” he said.

But indications are the romance continues to grow and that the country singer and vegetarian has already met most of Mr. Fisher’s family.

On New Year’s Eve, Ms. Underwood and Mr. Fisher’s sister dropped into Rinaldo’s swanky digs on George Street for some deluxe pampering and pedicures.

“She was here with Mike Fisher’s sister and the staff took good care of them,” said Pat Rinaldo.

“She was very quiet, very sweet and pleasant. She wasn’t demanding at all, everyone loved her and a lot of people recognized her.”

Ms. Underwood was being pampered prior to her going to a New Year’s Eve bash at Jason Spezza’s Westboro home where other players on the team were also guests.

Ms. Underwood is scheduled to perform at the People's Choice Awards Tuesday night where she is nominated for Favourite Female Artist, Favourite Star 35 and Under, and Favourite Country Song for the song Last Name.

Ottawa fitness trainer Tony Greco, a close friend of Mr. Fisher, says he thinks the couple are made for each other.

“I think it’s serious, I mean he’s really happy with her. They’re a perfect match,” said Mr. Greco.

Mr. Fisher is a big country music fan and is known to have strong Christian values. In the off-season, he devotes his time to hockey camps in his hometown of Peterborough and Kingston through Hockey Ministries International.

Ms. Underwood was raised in Muskogee, Oklahoma and began performing at the Free Will Baptist Church and area talent shows. She won season four of American Idol and parlayed that into great success in country recordings and concerts.

She dated Chace Crawford, an actor from the TV-series Gossip Girl, but that relationship ended some time ago, according to news reports.

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