CMT Music Awards 2023: 7 Things You Didn’t See on TV

On Sunday night (April 2), Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson and power couple Kane and Katelyn Brown reigned as the biggest winners of the CMT Music Awards, which, for the first time in the awards show’s history, was held outside of Nashville, at Moody Center in Austin, Texas.

First-time nominee Jelly Roll took home the most awards wins of the evening (three accolades, including male video of the year), with Wilson taking home two (including female video of the year). Kane Brown and Katelyn Brown’s romantic video for “Thank God” took home the evening’s highest honor, video of the year.

Kelsea Ballerini and Brown returned as co-hosts, and also turned in powerful performances alongside Carrie Underwood, Blake Shelton, an all-star tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd and the 10th anniversary of the CMT Next Women of Country Franchise as highlights of the performances throughout the ceremony.

But not all the top moments on the CMT Music Awards are broadcast on television—such as some stars spilling the tea on their all-time favorite music videos (Kane Brown’s is Michael Jackson’s “The Way You Make Me Feel,” Lainey Wilson’s is the Lee Ann Womack classic “I Hope You Dance,” and Jelly Roll points back to the era of music videos created under Master P’s No Limit Records, and under the Ronald “Slim” Williams and Bryan “Birdman” Williams label Cash Money: “It was all just bling and parties,” says Jelly Roll. “They would literally just go to like project buildings, have parties and shoot videos. I miss that era.”)

Here are seven moments from the awards that you didn’t see on TV last night.