Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning Would Rather Host the 2023 CMA Awards than Ride into the Sunset (Exclusive)

The 57th annual CMA Awards will air live on ABC on Nov. 8

Country’s biggest night is coming up, and Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning can’t wait! 

In a new promotional video for the 57th annual CMA Awards premiering exclusively on PEOPLE, the country music star, 47, and former NFL quarterback, 47, are thrilled to resume their hosting duties for the second time at the 2023 award show, airing live on ABC on Nov. 8. 

The two are so excited in the hilarious clip that they'd rather return to the CMA stage in Nashville than ride off into the sunset on horses alongside one another. 

“You know, Peyton, hosting the CMA Awards with you was truly something special,” the singer-songwriter says to the former quarterback in the video, as they ride through a sunset-lit pasture and “On the Road Again” by Willie Nelson plays.

Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning attend The 56th Annual CMA Awards at Bridgestone Arena on November 09, 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee
Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning at the 2022 CMA Awards.

Jason Kempin/Getty 

Once Manning gets a phone call, though, they’re quick to redirect their route. “Wait a minute. You want us to host the CMA Awards again?” he says. “I got to be honest, we’re in the middle of riding off into the sunset.”

“They want us to host again?” the CMA winner asks. “If I turn my back on the CMA Awards, what kind of hosting icon would I be?”

“Hosting icons, plural. They called my phone,” Manning jokes. 

Together, they decide to give it another shot — which they seemed already prepared for anyway, given the formal suit-and-tie attire they’re wearing while riding horseback. The video then concludes with one final laugh and more witty banter between the pair. 

Bryan and Manning hosted the CMA Awards together for the first time last year. They were announced as returning hosts in May. 

The 56th Annual CMA Awards, Country Musics Biggest Night, hosted by Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning
Peyton Manning and Luke Bryan at the 2022 CMA Awards.

ABC via Getty

With their return, the pair joins a history of returning hosting teams. Just a few years before them, Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood hosted the CMAs for 11 years straight from 2008 to 2018. In the past, Mac Davis and Barbara Mandrell hosted for three times in the ‘80s from 1980 to ‘82. Brooks & Dunn were also co-hosts from 2004 to 2006. 

Lainey Wilson leads this year’s nominees with nine nods. She also makes history as the only artist to ever lead nominations in her first two times on the ballot. 

Jelly Roll, who is a first-time contender and earned five nominations, follows Wilson with the second-most nods this year. Luke Combs and HARDY are behind them, each in four categories. Among the stars with three nominations are Ashley McBryde, Chris Stapleton, Jordan Davis and Morgan Wallen

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Those up for the coveted entertainer of the year prize include Chris Stapleton, Combs, Underwood, Wallen and Wilson.

The performers and presenters for the 2023 CMA Awards will be announced in the coming weeks. 

The 2023 CMA Awards will air live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Nov. 8 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and stream exclusively on Hulu the following day. 

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