The couple was initially introduced by Clarkson's former manager, Narvel Blackstock, who is also her soon-to-be former husband's father. Their paths first crossed at the 2006 American Country Music Awards, when Blackstock was managing country stars Rascal Flatts. "This guy walks by, making everybody laugh. I said, 'I'm gonna end up with him. I know it,'" she recalled in a 2013 interview with People.

Although it turns out that Blackstock was married to first wife Melissa Ashworth at the time, the American Idol alum couldn't let him go, admitting to People, "For the next six years, I'd go on dates and be like, 'Man, I didn't get that feeling I got that one time [with Brandon].'" The two reconnected in 2012, and thankfully, by that time Blackstock had been divorced for a year and the timing finally felt right. They were engaged just a short while later (Twitter).