Luke Bryan’s Sneaky Steal and Other Stuff You Haven’t Seen on TV

CMA show cohost Luke Bryan kept his TV audience laughing Wednesday night — but his funniest part of the night may have been the one cameras couldn’t catch.

Jeff Bridges had just accepted the CMA Entertainer of the Year award for no-show Morgan Wallen, and in the final moments of the broadcast, viewers were able to see the actor hand the hand-blown crystal to Bryan.

What happened next?

The coveted trophy proved too tempting for the gaiety of the nation, himself a two-time winner of the award, and he tucked it into the crook of his arm like a football and took off for the stage steps, apparently trying to run. It.

The caper only lasted a moment. After a few steps, Bryan stopped, smiled at his joke, then turned and obligingly handed the trophy to a nearby CMA employee.

That lighthearted moment was just one of many sights, sounds and sensations that didn’t make it to the airwaves — but PEOPLE was at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena to see them all.

Here are 10 more:

REGULAR BOYS:

Both Luke Combs and Jelly Roll pride themselves on projecting a down-to-earth personality, and both confirmed – off camera – that it’s hardly an act. After Combs finished performing “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma,” when the stage divider collapsed, he turned and thanked his bandmates, taking time to shake hands. After his performance of “Liar,” Jelly Roll made a similar gesture to his group of backup singers, taking a moment to high five everyone.

COMMERCIAL BREAK CONVOS:

As the ads rolled, the celebrity section of the arena floor turned into what amounted to a succession of mini cocktail parties. Jelly Roll and his wife, Bunnie Xo, were seen chatting with Cody Johnson and his wife, Brandi, and Johnson took off his cowboy hat to give Bunnie a hug.

Country stars are definitely huggers, and there were many more connections throughout the evening: Post Malone earned hugs from Michael Trotter and The War and Treaty’s Shaboozey. During a break countdown, high-heeled Ashley McBryde rushed onto her toes for a quick hug with longtime friend and show cohost Lainey Wilson, then rushed back to her seat. Kelsea Ballerini and Dasha also brought it in before engaging in an intimate tête-à-tête.

tribute to the king:

A steady stream of performers – including Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney (aka Dan + Shay), Keith Urban, Bailey Zimmerman, Jelly Roll and Old Dominion’s Matthew Ramsey – dropped by to kneel before country king George Strait, usually seated at the held court. Post Malone was given the honor of sitting next to the icon and his wife, Norma, and the country’s new crossover king greeted both fellow Texans like a starry-eyed fan.

TENNESSEE ORANGE:

On camera, cohosts Bryan, Wilson and Peyton Manning all raised red Solo cups in honor of the late Toby Keith, but off camera, as he waited for his hosting duties, Manning notably switched to an orange Solo cup, the color from the retired pro quarterback’s college team. , the University of Tennessee. (Perhaps the traditional Solo color is too close to the shades of UT’s archrivals, the bulldog red of Georgia and the crimson red of Alabama.)

Manning also proved he was a Tom Petty (and Dierks Bentley) fan as he stood stageside, held up his orange cup and sang along to “American Girl” during Bentley’s bluegrass rendition of the Petty classic.

POINTED DIRECTION:

If the crowd seemed particularly subdued during Ashley McBryde’s tribute to the late Kris Kristofferson, there was good reason. The entire arena had just received lengthy and insistent warnings from the offstage announcer: “The next performance is of the utmost importance… Everyone, relax… Take a seat, Please.”

Even then, TV audiences could see a wayward Luke Combs hastily take his seat during McBryde’s first solemn notes of Kristofferson’s “Help Me Make It Through the Night.”

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS:

The CMA membership, of course, chooses the awards recipients, but the arena audience had its own input when the nominees were announced, though the TV audio may not have picked up the reactions.

Judging from the applause from the top decks, fan preferences went to Zach Top for Best New Artist over winner Megan Moroney, the Red Clay Strays for Vocal Group of the Year (Old Dominion won the trophy) and Morgan Wallen for men’s artist of the year (Chris Stapleton won). Wallen overwhelmingly won the crowd’s favor, along with the actual trophy, for entertainer of the year.

MASS EXODUS:

Fellow duo of the year nominees Michael and Tanya Trotter (aka The War and Treaty), Dan + Shay, Maddie Font of Maddie & Tae and Brothers Osborne all smiled and clapped for the camera as Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn accepted the award took home ‘had already won fourteen times before.

Their win was perhaps the most shocking of the night, and for whatever reason the Trotters, Smyers, Mooney and Font all headed out during the next commercial break. (Font’s partner, Taylor Dye Kerr, chose to stay home after giving birth just three weeks ago.) Only TJ and John Osborne, who received the award six times, stuck around for the rest of the show.

OFF CAMERA WINNERS:

During a commercial break, Jordan Davis presented a trophy to Lainey Wilson and director Patrick Tracy for music video of the year, and during another break, Davis presented Charlie Worsham with the musician of the year award. After a brief expression of gratitude, Wilson ceded most of her time to Tracy, who in turn praised the artist for being “a very, very, very hardworking woman in this town who made it happen.”

Judging from the applause, Worsham, who has also had a distinguished career as a performer, was a particular crowd favorite; the guitarist finally broke the juggernaut of violinist Jenee Fleenor, who has taken home the award for the past five years. TV audiences watched as both Worsham and Fleenor later joined forces to join Wilson on her George Strait tribute, “Amarillo by Morning.”

PACKAGING:

All winners faced second-by-second countdowns that scrolled through a large teleprompter on the other side of the room, and each person was given exactly one minute for their acceptance remarks. What happened if they ran over? The teleprompter commanded “please pack” in red letters, and the hint was usually picked up. But Old Dominion’s Matthew Ramsey crossed even that line, and he got the CMA equivalent of a ruler rap on the knuckles: a show staffer waving a beam of bright red light in front of the teleprompter. But perhaps Ramsey had earned the right to take an extra moment: OD had just won a record seven awards for Music Group of the Year.

Lainey Wilson was one of the top economic winners and offered words of wisdom (“I’ve always been told that if you feel like you have a gift, you should share it”), and thanked “Mom and Dad,” friend Devlin’ Duck” Hodges, Jesus and several professional collaborators, and she had 15 seconds left when she accepted female vocalist of the year.

DEFINITELY NOT CGI:

Fire and other fireworks were used throughout the show, but none were as dramatic as Jelly Roll and Keith Urban’s blazing performance of ‘Liar’. The plumes of fire that exploded behind the performers could have been skin-scalding on stage, as the heat from the explosions could be felt as far away as the 15th row of the audience.