Luke Bryan laughs off Blake Shelton’s new romance

Luke Bryan insisted there was "no way" his musician pal Blake Shelton could "score a girl" like Gwen Stefani as news of their romance broke.

It seems country star Blake had kept his blossoming relationship with Gwen under wraps from even his closest friends, as Luke had no idea they were dating either. As he took to the red carpet before the 2015 Country Music Association Awards on Wednesday (04Nov15), Luke dismissed claims the pair were together because Gwen is way out of Blake's league.

"He didn't come out about that," Bryan responded incredulously after being informed about the romance by E! News. "You're trying to trick me…Pull [it] up online. I need to see where Blake has stated that.

"It can't be true, because there's no way Blake could ever score a girl like that. It's not true."

A representative for the No Doubt singer confirmed she was dating her fellow The Voice star on Wednesday (04Nov15), after the musicians were seen getting close at several Halloween parties over the weekend in Los Angeles (ends01Nov15).
"Gwen and Blake are long-time friends who have very recently started dating," the spokesperson explained.

As news of the relationship surfaced, Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood took friendly jabs at Blake and his ex-wife Miranda Lambert while co-hosting the 2015 Country Music Association Awards. Brad and Carrie took to the stage at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena to emcee the annual country music prizegiving, and they weren't afraid to call out their friends Blake and Miranda, who announced their shock divorce in July (15).

"We can't ignore the break-up that really rocked our world, the one that's on everybody's mind," Brad said during the opening monologue.

"Two people in this very room who we all know and love - splitsville."

The camera then turned to Miss Piggy and Kermit sitting in the audience, as the Muppets couple also broke up over the summer (15).

Brad then said, "And on a completely unrelated topic, howdy Blake," who was shown cracking a smile in the audience.

Miranda was also in attendance but she didn't feature in the sketch. The music star took home the Female Vocalist of the Year Award and during her acceptance speech she touched upon her personal heartache.

"Hi, guys," 31-year-old Miranda said, "I needed a bright spot this year."