Blake Shelton on How It Feels to Be Nominated for Awards With 'Best Friend' Gwen Stefani (Exclusive)

Blake Shelton loves being nominated for awards with his fiancée, Gwen Stefani! ET's Cassie DiLaura spoke to the 44-year-old singer in honor of the opening of the Orlando location of his Ole Red restaurant, and he gushed over being up for an Academy of Country Music Award alongside Stefani at this year's ceremony.

The engaged couple's up for the Music Event of the Year category for their song, "Nobody But You." The nomination marks Stefani's first ACM nod. Shelton and Stefani previously won a CMT Music Award for the song.

"I texted her actually this morning on the way here. I wish she was here with me," he said. "... I said, 'I can't believe that I get to be nominated for awards with my best friend'... How do you get so blessed and so lucky? It's unbelievable."

After ET spoke with Shelton, Carly Pearce and Lee Brice were announced as the winners of the category, for their song, "I Hope You're Happy Now," ahead of Sunday's ceremony. During ET's chat, Shelton joked about how he and Stefani would feel if they lost the award.

"I don't know what our chances are to win that thing, but if we don't win, we'll know it's rigged," he quipped.

While he may not be a 2021 ACM winner, Shelton is still set to take the stage at Sunday's ceremony in Nashville. Shelton will perform a mashup of his songs, "Austin" and "Minimum Wage," the former of which, his debut single, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.

During ET's chat with Shelton, he marveled over his two-decade career.

"I wanted to be a country singer on the radio and I didn't really have any plans or goals beyond that," Shelton said. "... I had 'Austin,' it was a big hit. Then we came out of the gate after that and stumbled, had a few songs that flopped, came back with 'Old Red' and it was kind of a hit. Then we had some flops, and I realized, man, making it more than a minute in this business, you have done something [right]."

Shelton noted that still having a song on the charts 20 years after his debut makes him the "luckiest guy in country music."

"I don't know how that happens. I don't," he said. "... I have so many of my friends that came out the same time I did and they had incredible careers, but they didn't last this long. I look at them as way more talented and better than anything I do. So I just know how lucky I've been. [I] guess I made some good decisions along the way and surrounded myself with people that I trust and are good at what they do."

The 56th ACM Awards will air live from Nashville's Grand Ole Opry House, Ryman Auditorium and Bluebird Cafe, Sunday, April 18 at 8/7c on CBS. Here is how to watch the ACM Awards.

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