This was one of the most important weeks of Carly Pearce’s life. The songstress had four nominations and a performance leading into Wednesday’s CMA Awards however, just 10 days prior, Pearce wasn’t sure she would make it to the show after suffering a major accident on Halloween.
The rising star revealed the news to Entertainment Tonight‘s Rachel Smith while backstage at the CMAs on Wednesday (Nov. 11).
“It’s been an intense 10 days, I’ll tell you,” Pearce shared, also referring to the face that Lee Brice was forced to pull out of their performance after testing positive for COVID-19. “Right before all of that happened I had an accident…I fell on Halloween and had a bunch of stitches in my mouth, knocked my two front teeth out, was, like, completely mangled.”
The 30-year-old also opened up about the incident to E!, explaining that she worked with an incredible team of doctors to help her heal in time for “Country Music’s Biggest Night.”
“It looked really bad. It was scary. I was just really fortunate to get doctors that helped and knew the pressure I was under,” Pearce acknowledged. “But with every day, I was like, ‘Please Lord, let my face heal so I can do this’ because this is such a huge moment.”
Luckily, she healed up quickly. On Wednesday morning, she learned that she won her very first CMA Award: Musical Event of the Year for “I Hope You’re Happy Now” with Brice. That evening, she took the stage to sing the song alongside Lady A’s Charles Kelley and all was right in her world again.
“So the fact that I’m standing here being able to talk and do all this, and the Lee and then the Charles [Kelley situation], it’s just been like such an intense 10 days,” she told ET. “So this makes it all worth it. I was kind of embarrassed to be here with my face and so it’s just awesome.”
Although the path the CMAs was a rough one, Pearce says she wouldn’t trade her CMA win for the world.
“I don’t know how to explain it. I mean, it’s truly like a dream come true,” she said of winning her first CMA trophy. “I’ve never held one of these and now that I know I get to have one is crazy…I’m like, this makes it worth it though. I’ll knock my teeth out for a CMA Award.”
Click HERE to re-live her performance of “I Hope You’re Happy Now” with Kelley.
