What you didn’t see on TV at the 2019 ACM Awards

Dierks Bentley was pretty glad he didn’t host the ACM Awards. Though Bentley hosted the event twice in the past, the honor was given to Reba McEntire in 2019. This marks the country legend’s 16th time hosting since her 1986 debut, and she’s taken home just as many of the coveted awards throughout her career.

In a Taste of Country interview, Bentley admitted that it was fun hosting alongside Luke Bryan, but “not hosting is pretty great.” Who needs the pressure of having to entertain a crowd?

“It’s also fun just to get a chance to appreciate being there. I wasn’t nominated for the Grammys this year, so I just watched it from home, and it was like, wow! I could really appreciate every performance and the collaborations and all the great female performances,” he said. “It was like, I missed not being there because that means I’m not nominated, which is probably bad for business, but it was nice to be able to step back and enjoy it, and for me, the ACMs, just being there in the audience and no pressure, it’s definitely more fun.”

Bentley, who was nominated for four separate awards, wasn’t totally out of the woods on the big day. The star still performed alongside Brandi Carlile during the broadcast.