Renée weds country star

She made her name playing the world's most famous spinster. Now Bridget Jones star Renée Zellweger has gone off and got married in secret to country singer Kenny Chesney.

The first anyone outside their immediate circle knew was when her publicist issued a statement confirming the couple had married yesterday in the US Virgin Islands.

The statement said Zellweger, 36 - who wore Carolina Herrera, one of her favourite designers - and Chesney, 37, were married in front of close family and friends on the island of St John, where Chesney has a house. The couple are said to have walked barefoot up the aisle before being married by a woman preacher in a 15-minute ceremony.

The wedding reception was held at Chesney's house in the gated community of Peter Bay, outside St John's main town, Cruz Bay. Zellweger and Chesney met only four months ago, when he was performing at the Concert of Hope for the tsunami relief fund in January and she was helping answer the phones. According to one report they met when she delivered a margarita to him on stage. He had expected it to be served by a stagehand.

He had long been an admirer of Zellweger. He was inspired to write his 1999 hit You Had Me From Hello after seeing her in the film Jerry Maguire.

While her most famous role saw her surviving a tumultuous love life, yoyoing between Colin Firth and Hugh Grant in the Bridget Jones movies, in reality Zellweger's best-known liaison was with White Stripes singer Jack White. The couple split last year.

Chesney has been engaged before, in 1999, but broke off the relationship three weeks before the planned ceremony.

Residents say Chesney, originally from east Tennessee, is a familiar face around Cruz Bay. Zellweger is from Katy, Texas. St John, a tiny island of 5,000 residents, is more than twothirds national park and is known for its hiking, pristine beaches and tranquillity-The couple had a prewedding reception on Sunday at a restaurant in downtown Cruz Bay, restaurant employees said. About 45 guests, including Zellweger and Chesney, wore T-shirts and jeans - and drank margaritas.

Zellweger, who won an Oscar for her performance in Cold Mountain, will next appear as Janis Joplin in the film Piece Of My Heart. Chesney currently has two albums on Billboard's top 10 country albums chart. He was named Country Music Association entertainer of the year in November.