NEW YORK, Oct. 28 (UPI) — Blake Shelton expects the 2015 Country Music Association Awards to be uncomfortable.
The 39-year-old country star admitted as much in an interview Tuesday on Late Night with Seth Meyers. Shelton and ex-wife Miranda Lambert will both perform at the ceremony Nov. 4, less than four months after their highly-publicized divorce.
“This year is going to be awkward at the CMAs,” the singer said. “[Country music] is such a family. Everybody there is friends, you know? There’s gotta be [a joke] about me and Miranda. [Co-host] Brad Paisley is not doing his job if he doesn’t look down there and go, ‘Haha!'”
“You have to address the elephant in the room,” he allowed. “We’ve had the conversations, like, ‘Okay, dude, I will sit there and let you kick me in the face a few times. I know it’s coming, you know.'”
The awards ceremony will mark the former couple’s first public reunion since their split in July. The pair will compete for Musical Event of the Year — Shelton for “Lonely Tonight” with Ashley Monroe, and Lambert for “Smokin’ and Drinkin'” with Little Big Town.
Shelton is also nominated for Male Vocalist of the Year, while Lambert is up for Female Vocalist of the Year, Entertainer of the Year and Music Video of the Year for “Little Red Wagon.” The 31-year-old singer celebrated her nominations by shopping in September.
Shelton and Lambert met at the CMT 100 Greatest Duets concert in 2005, and married in May 2011. The country star last released Bringing Back the Sunshine in September 2014, while Lambert debuted Platinum in June 2014. Both records topped the Billboard 200.
