There are moments in life you never forget. The day you get married. The day your children are born.
The day in 2011 when you were publicly declared “Townsville’s Hottest Man”.

Also Kat won “Townsville’s Hottest Girl”, but this is my blog – it’s all about me!

Townsville Amateurs Cup Day 2011. The sun’s out, the horses are running, the beers are expensive. HotFM is running a very serious and highly prestigious competition: they took glamour shots of everyone at the Cup, posted the photos online, and let the public vote on who was the hottest.

To be clear, there are plenty of beautiful people in Townsville. Objectively hotter people. Models. Athletes. People with symmetrical faces. And yet, somehow, I emerged victorious.

The whole thing seemed pretty unlikely. But Kat really wanted to win – she wanted me to win too. Armed with her phone and zero shame, she launched a week-long barrage of Facebook posts asking friends, acquaintances, and anyone who’d ever made eye contact with her to vote.

By day three, a new term had been coined: KatSpam.

And it worked. We both won.

Possibly not because I’m the hottest guy in Townsville – but because we’re the most persistent.

Wait, I take that back. I was the Hottest Guy in Townsville. It’s all official and everything!

The prize for each winner was $500 to spend at a local jeweller. We combined our winnings and bought my wedding ring. So technically, we got married with the proceeds of a regional FM radio beauty contest.

As if that wasn’t enough for one day, we also won the lucky door prize at the Cup – return flights to LA. Just casually. As you do.

And a few months later we won another HotFM competition. Kat’s ticket was drawn, and I got to step into one of those glass boxes full of flying vouchers, grabbing at them while trying not to look too much like an idiot. We won $365 and 17 McDonald’s frappés.

So yes. It’s true. I once held the title of Townsville’s Hottest Man.

And if anyone questions it, I have the Facebook screenshots – and the wedding ring – to prove it.