By Katie McMullin

Liverpool Echo

A man, who changed his name to Mark “I love Spam” Benson, will marry his fiancee at the Spam Museum in Austin.

Fiancee Anne Mousley surprised her partner with the “spamtastic” news under the pretense that he was meeting her for an early valentines meal.

But instead the father-of-two was told that on April 25, he will be the first ever person to be married in the Spam Museum in Minnesota, USA.

Soon to be Mrs Anne I Love Spam said: “He saw on the news last year that the Spam museum had just been revamped and he just said ‘we are going there.’ So then the wedding fund was turned into saving to go to the museum.”

Mark made deed poll — a way to change your name in England — history last year after changing his middle name from “William” to “I love Spam” in tribute to his grandfather and uncle, who had both worked at Newforge Foods factory in Gateacre, where Spam was produced in the UK from 1941 to 1998.

The news went viral after he tweeted Loose Women — and English panel-styled TV show — in response to their question about retro foods, to which he said he loved Spam so much he had changed his name to it.

The 42-year-old, who will also celebrate his honeymoon at the Spam Jam Festival in Hawaii, the state that consumes more Spam than any other American state, said: “I am gobsmacked. I literally don’t know what to say. It is a dream come true. I literally cannot believe it. I had no idea she had planned this, none what so ever.”

The couple from Halewood, who have daughters Milly, 5, and Evie, 3, have been engaged for seven years and last year went on the Liverpool Spam can tour.

It was on the tour when the couple met Sue Reay from PR East River, that handles UK PR for Spam, and she soon learnt all about Mark’s love for Spam.

Following the tour in March last year Anne got in touch with Sue who, arranged through Spam to pay for the couple’s wedding and make Mark’s dreams come true.

“There has never been a wedding in the museum before,” said Sue. “I had to show the U.S. team that Mark wasn’t just anyone and the extremes that he had gone to, so they have made a special exception. No one else will ever get to marry there again and we are going to make sure it is special for Mark, Anne and the kids.”

The couple will be married in front of visitors and will be having a party when they arrive home with family and friends.

Mark, who will have a tin of Spam most days and makes many recipes using the canned food, including a Spam pizza, Spamanara (carbonara) and on his English breakfast instead of bacon, said he just “loves it.”

“I was brought up on it,” he added. “And my Grandad, who fought in World War II, used to share his rations of Spam with the Americans and then he worked in the Spam factory and my uncle did too. When that closed and it was moved to Denmark, the old factory became a Morrison’s and that is where we shop now and where I buy my Spam. When I changed my name it was a tribute but it has just escalated.”

“Mark is definitely one of a kind,” Anne added. “He is very very unique.”

See the original story and a video of the announcement at www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/fiance-surprises-spam-mad-partner-12599319