Luke Bryan’s Sneaky Steal and Other Things You Didn’t See on TV at the 2024 CMA Awards

CMA show cohost Luke Bryan kept his TV audience laughing on Wednesday night — but his funniest bit of the evening may have been one that cameras didn’t catch.

Jeff Bridges had just accepted the CMA entertainer of the year award for no-show Morgan Wallen, and at the last moment of the broadcast, viewers could see the actor handing off the hand-blown crystal to Bryan.

What happened next?

The much-coveted trophy proved too tempting for country’s merrymaker, himself a two-time winner of the prize, and he tucked it into the crook of his arm like a football and took off toward the stage stairs, seemingly trying to make a run for it.

The caper lasted only an instant. After a few steps, Bryan stopped, smiled at his joke, then turned around and obligingly surrendered the trophy to a CMA staffer nearby.

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

Here are 10 more:

REGULAR GUYS:

Both Luke Combs and Jelly Roll pride themselves in projecting a down-to-earth persona, and both confirmed — off camera — that it’s hardly an act. After Combs had finished performing “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma,” as the partition dropped down to the stage apron, he turned and thanked his band members, taking the time to shake hands with each. After his performance of “Liar,” Jelly Roll offered a similar gesture to his group of background singers, taking a moment to high-five every single one.

COMMERCIAL-BREAK CONVOS:

While the ads rolled, the celeb section of the arena floor turned into what amounted to a succession of mini-cocktail parties. Jelly Roll and his wife, Bunnie Xo, could be seen chatting it up with Cody Johnson and his wife, Brandi, and Johnson doffed his cowboy hat to give Bunnie a hug.

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

HOMAGE TO THE KING:

A steady stream of artists — including Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney (aka Dan + Shay), Keith Urban, Bailey Zimmerman, Jelly Roll, and Old Dominion’s Matthew Ramsey — stopped by to genuflect before country king George Strait, who mostly held court while seated. Post Malone drew the honor of sitting next to the icon and his wife, Norma, and 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 to honor the late Toby Keith, but off camera as he awaited his hosting duties, Manning notably switched to an orange Solo cup, the color of the retired pro quarterback’s college team, the University of Tennessee. (Perhaps the traditional Solo color is too close to the UT arch-rivals’ hues, Georgia’s bulldog red and Alabama’s crimson.)

Manning also proved himself to be a Tom Petty (and Dierks Bentley) fan, standing near the stage, raising his orange cup and singing along to “American Girl” during Bentley’s bluegrass performance of the Petty classic.

POINTED DIRECTIONS:

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 off-stage announcer: “The next performance is of utmost reverence … Nice and quiet, everyone … Sit down, please.”

Even then, the TV audience could see a wayward Luke Combs hastily taking 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, picks the award recipients, but the arena audience had their own say as nominees were announced, though the TV audio may not have picked up the reactions.

Judging from the volume of applause from the upper decks, fan preferences were for Zach Top for best new artist rather than winner Megan Moroney, the Red Clay Strays for vocal group of the year (Old Dominion took the trophy), and Morgan Wallen for male artist of the year (Chris Stapleton won). Wallen overwhelmingly won the audience’s favor, along with the actual trophy, for entertainer of the year.

MASS EXODUS:

Fellow nominees for duo of the year Michael and Tanya Trotter (aka The War and Treaty), Dan + Shay, Maddie Font of Maddie & Tae, and Brothers Osborne all smiled and clapped on camera when Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn took home the prize they’d already won 14 times before.

Their win was perhaps the most shocking of the evening, and for whatever reason, the Trotters, Smyers, Mooney and Font all made for the exit 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, six-time recipients of the award, stuck around for the rest of the show.

OFF-CAMERA WINNERS:

During one commercial break, Jordan Davis handed out 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 thanks, Wilson ceded most of her time to Tracy, who in turn praised the artist for being “a very, very, very hard-working woman in this town who gets it done.”

Judging by the applause, Worsham, who’s also had a notable career as an artist, was a particular crowd favorite; the guitarist finally broke the juggernaut of fiddler Jenee Fleenor, who has taken home the award for the past five years. The TV audience could see both Worsham and Fleenor later join forces to accompany Wilson on her George Strait tribute, “Amarillo by Morning.”

WRAPPING IT UP:

All the winners faced into second-by-second countdowns that scrolled off a large teleprompter located across the room, and each was given exactly a minute for their acceptance remarks. What happened if they ran over? The teleprompter ordered “please wrap” in red lettering, and the hint was usually taken. But Old Dominion’s Matthew Ramsey overstepped even that bound, and he got the CMA equivalent of a ruler rap on the knuckles: a show staffer waving a bar of bright red lights 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 among the most economical winners, offering words of wisdom (“I’ve always been told if you feel like you’ve got a gift, you’re supposed to share it”), as well as thanks for “Momma and Daddy,” boyfriend Devlin ‘Duck’ Hodges, Jesus, and assorted professional associates, and she still had 15 seconds to spare as she accepted female vocalist of the year.

DEFINITELY NOT CGI:

Fire and other pyrotechnics were employed throughout the show, but none so dramatically as Jelly Roll and Keith Urban’s combustive performance of “Liar.” The plumes of fire that exploded behind the artists could well have been skin-singeing onstage since the heat from the blasts could be felt from as far away as the 15th audience row.