CMT Music Awards hosts named: Kane Brown will join Kelsea Ballerini for the THIRD year in a row as he says he hopes to ‘bring the excitement’
The hosts for the Country Music Television Music Awards show were named on Thursday morning.
Kane Brown will join Kelsea Ballerini – who recently confirmed Chase Stokes romance – for the third year in a row.
The 2023 CMT Music Awards air live from the Moody Center in Austin, Texas, on Sunday, April 2 on CBS and CMT, and streaming live and on demand on Paramount+.
Brown, 29, told Entertainment Tonight that it was an ‘immediate yes’ when he was asked to co-host the show.
He added he has fond memories of the CMT show. ‘My first CMT was my first award,’ Brown told ET’s Cassie DiLaura, explaining what the show means to him.
Third time a charm: The hosts for the Country Music Television Music Awards show were named on Thursday morning. Kane Brown will join Kelsea Ballerini on stage for the third year in a row
Brownerini: The 2023 CMT Music Awards air live from the Moody Center in Austin, Texas, on Sunday, April 2 on CBS and CMT, and streaming live and on demand on Paramount+
‘[It’s the] only award show I’ve hosted and it’s just cool, getting to keep doing it and getting to keep getting more comfortable,’ he said.
Kane added he will ‘bring the excitement’ to this year’s show.
Brown praised Ballerini as a ‘natural sweetheart’ who is the ‘perfect hosting partner.’
Kane said: ‘It’s cool to be doing it with somebody I’m familiar with. I’m very shy. So if I was doing it with a stranger, I don’t know how it’d go.’
This will be the fourth year in a row that Brown has co-hosted the show.
Brown co-hosted in 2020 with Sarah Hyland and Ashley McBryde.
He and Ballerini first co-hosted together in 2021. She participated remotely last year after testing positive for COVID-19 ahead of the show.
And he will perform with his wife Katelyn at the show.
That would be a yes! Brown told Entertainment Tonight that it was an ‘immediate yes’ when he was asked to co-host the show. He added he has fond memories of the CMT show. ‘My first CMT was my first award,’ Brown told ET’s Cassie DiLaura, explaining what the show means to him. Seen in November
![Pumped: '[It's the] only award show I've hosted and it's just cool, getting to keep doing it and getting to keep getting more comfortable,' he said. Kane added he will 'bring the excitement' to this year's show. Seen in December](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/02/23/19/68012721-0-image-a-80_1677179838023.jpg)
Pumped: ‘[It’s the] only award show I’ve hosted and it’s just cool, getting to keep doing it and getting to keep getting more comfortable,’ he said. Kane added he will ‘bring the excitement’ to this year’s show. Seen in December
The pair’s duet, Thank God, reached number one on the Country Airplay chart in February 2023.
It is the second duet by a married couple to top the chart – the first was Tim McGraw and Faith Hill’s It’s Your Love in 1997.
Katelyn said she is nervous.
‘I think the difference is, at Kane’s shows, I know that they’re there for him. They love us. They love our family.
‘And so it’s just like a whole different audience,’ she shared.
His love: And Kane will perform the song Thank God with his wife Katelyn at the show; seen on February 11 in Arizona
‘[At the CMTs], I know he’s out there in front of his peers and other artists and stuff like that. So it definitely adds a little bit more nerves to it.’
The CMT Music Awards honor the best, hottest and most inspiring country music videos of the past year. They’re also distinguished for being the only fan-voted awards in country music, with voting open online at cmt.com.
New this year, the 2023 CMT Music Awards ceremony moves from Nashville to Austin, TX to air live from the Moody Center on CBS on Sunday, April 2, 2023 beginning at 8PM ET.
Leading the 2023 CMT Awards performance lineup will be country superstar Carrie Underwood.
Showstopper: Leading the 2023 CMT Awards performance lineup will be country superstar Carrie Underwood. Seen this week in NYC
