Kellie Pickler: Don’t You Know You’re ... Vegetarian

Kellie Pickler photo courtesy of Sony BMG Nashville.

Oct. 29, 2008 — Kellie Pickler is looking for ways to raise the stakes in her career, but it appears she won’t be raising steaks to her lips anymore.

Kellie was once a card-carrying, meat-eating Southern girl. Now she’s a bona fide vegetarian.

"I used to eat steak rare all the time," she told People. "I'd just throw it on the grill for two seconds, flip it over and it was done, and everyone was like, 'That's so gross — that thing is still moving!'"

Kellie’s conversion is not a whim. She gave up carniverous activities about five months ago, becoming a herbivore like friend and fellow artist Carrie Underwood, who was surprised that Kellie lasted even two weeks — let alone five months.

"She was like, 'Wow, I'm so proud of you! You're doing better than I thought!'" recalled Kellie, whose "Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful" video currently ranks at No. 3 on GAC’s Top 20 Country Countdown. "So we have this little vegetarian thing going on. I'll text her and be like, 'Is fish considered a meat?' And she'll be like, 'Well, different people look at it differently.'"

Vegetarians are — like the steak Kellie used to eat — rare in the country ranks. They include Kellie, Carrie, Shania Twain and former country artist k.d. lang, who was banned by a number of radio stations in 1990 when she took a public stance against meat. Kellie has no intention of becoming a k.d.-like evangelist for the cause.

"It's not like I'm not going to go to dinner with someone if they're going to order a chicken," she said. "It's just a personal thing to me, and I'm not preaching about it to anyone. But I feel more healthy."

Kellie, GAC’s Fan Focus Artist of the Month for October, has been added to the lineup of performers for the 42nd annual Country Music Association Awards Nov. 12. Hosted by Carrie and Brad Paisley, the event will also feature Rodney Atkins, Reese Witherspoon, Alan Jackson, Trace Adkins, the Eagles, Kenny Chesney and Keith Urban, among others.