Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning Prep for the CMA Awards — What Could Go Wrong? [Watch]
Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning are hosting the 2022 CMA Awards together, but it appears they could use a bit of practice before the big night. In order to get in sync with one another, the co-hosts are taking part in a CMA Awards Bootcamp — which is totally something they came up with.
The Country Music Association shared a compilation video of their bootcamp, set to Dolly Parton's "9 to 5." Their hosting drills include a rapid-fire identification test of various country artists for Peyton, and some oddball vocal warmups for Bryan. The "Country On" singer is also seen helping the NFL Hall of Famer pick out his wardrobe.
In another clip, Manning draws out an elaborate defensive strategy to prevent any onstage mishaps involving audience members.
"I'm going this way if someone tries to come up and tackle them," Manning says, and he draws the plan on a white board.
"Peyton, it's not gonna happen," Bryan says, looking confused. "It's an awards show."
The look on Manning's face has "you can't be too careful" written all over it. It's a subtle poke at the 2022 Oscars, when Will Smith rushed the stage and slapped Chris Rock across the face after the comedian made a joke about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
Manning and Bryan have been getting fan praise since they were first announced as co-hosts, with many expressing excitement about this move by the CMA Awards.
"Yessss this is going to be so good I love them," one fan writes, while another chimes in with, "This is going to be one of the best #cmaawards yet with these two hosting."
Bryan hosted the 2021 CMA Awards by himself and has previously hosted the ACM Awards (He and Blake Shelton hosted 2013-2015). Bryan also hosted the ACMs with Dierks Bentley in 2016 and 2017. This is Manning's first time hosting the CMA Awards, but not his first time attending the show — he actually sang with then-hosts Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley in 2016.
The 2022 CMA Awards air on on Wednesday, Nov. 9, at 8PM ET on ABC.