“We Had a Nice Time”: Riley Green on the Drama that Ensued When He Brought Bryana Ferringer as His CMA Awards Date

Despite a stacked roster of top-tier performances and a host of momentous victories, it felt like all anyone wanted to talk about after the 2025 CMA Awards was Riley Green and his decision to bring Nashville lifestyle influencer, Bryana Ferringer, as his date.

Rumours have been swirling around Green, Ella Langley and Megan Moroney over the past few months, as fans attempt to decipher all the hints and clues regarding this supposed love triangle. As a result, when Green showed up with Ferringer to the ceremony, which was attended by both Langley and Moroney, the country music world was sent into a frenzy. What's more, Ferringer used to date Green's fellow country hitmaker, Tucker Wetmore, another attendee at the 2025 CMA Awards.

Wetmore followed up that furore with a brand new single, ‘Proving Me Right’, which many have interpreted as a thinly veiled dig at Ferringer, particularly when he pointedly sings, “Keep on puttin' it on now, baby / Find some guy with a song now, baby”.

In a new interview with Elaina Smith for her Backstage Country channel, Green has addressed the hubbub for the first time. When asked by Smith about his headline-making CMA date, the ‘Different ‘Round Here’ singer-songwriter jokes, “It's gonna be tough to tiptoe out of having a date to an award show. Yeah, I mean, you go to award show all the time, and I’m always by myself, or I’ve got like, a security guy, or a buddy with me, so I took a friend with me to the award show”.

He goes on, “We had a nice time. My mom’s gone with me before. So it was my first or second award show date ever. I guess I’ve gotten big enough this is a really big issue”.

When Smith raises the possibility of some of Green's next studio album - which he has confirmed is in the works - being penned about Ferringer, the Alabama native doesn't rule it out, “As of now, no. I haven’t written a lot this year. I’ve written a lot of stuff after Don’t Mind If I Do, but the holidays is always when I write the most songs”.

The ‘you look like you love me’ chart-topper concludes, “It seems like this is my down time, after Thanksgiving and things slow down, I’ll be at home, I’ll be sitting around the farm, that’s when I come up with a lot of inspiration for songs, so who knows”.

Green has been spotted with Ferringer on a number of occasions over the past few weeks. As a result, even though Green refers to Ferringer in this interview as simply a “friend”, it looks like the fanfare around this is not going to die down any time soon.

What's more, country up-and-comer Brody Clementi, another rumoured former flame of Ferringer, has been teasing a song seemingly addressing their break-up and criticising her ex's behaviour, as well as showing support to Wetmore's ‘Proving Me Right’.

Elsewhere in his interview with Smith, Green touches on all the previous rumours about him and Langley, as he admits that he understands why fans wanted the duo to be an item, given the chemistry they exude on ‘you look like you love me’ and ‘Don't Mind If I Do’ - much like how George and Tammy's real-life romance added to the emotional weight of iconic country tracks such as ‘Golden Ring’.

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