What you need to know
Priscilla Bullock and boyfriend Elijah Phillips make their red carpet debut!
On Wednesday, Nov. 19, the 30-year-old “You Me and Whiskey” singer showed up at the CMA Awards 2025 with someone special on her arm: her boyfriend Elijah. She also happened to be the inspiration for one of the latest songs of the same name.
“I wanted to go super classy this year. It’s my first time having a man on the carpet. There’s a lot going on,” Bullock tells PEOPLE exclusively of her date night look.
The country singer wore a brown strapless gown with a corseted bodice at the top and draped material that started at the waist and flowed to the floor.
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Elijah then joined the interview wearing a black suit, black button-down shirt, and cowboy hat. A brown handkerchief tucked into her jacket pocket matched Bullock’s dress.
“It’s our first time on the carpet together, so we’re very excited. We just wanted to come in very classy,” she tells PEOPLE.
The singer-songwriter said that since releasing Things You Didn’t See, “the response to this album has been incredibly positive.”
“I put my heart and soul into this record, and people really raised their hands on this record. I showed the love of my life on this record,” Bullock told PEOPLE, smiling and pointing at Elijah. “So we’re doing everything we can. It’s kind of crazy.”
Check out PEOPLE’s full coverage of the CMA Awards here.
“This is like the first time we’ve done anything together in public,” the singer said, while her date added, “This is like prom night!”
Bullock told People that her beau kicked off the night with a thoughtful gesture before appearing on the red carpet.
“He wrote me a letter today and gave me a rose that will last forever, and he was like, ‘This is really special, thank you for having me,'” she says.
In the music video for “Elijah,” which was shared on Bullock’s YouTube channel in October, the couple appears as themselves while she narrates their love story.
“We were two kids/You were 23 and I was 21,” she sings, as the camera shows a man walking in denim jeans and cowboy boots.
As she sings, the camera pans up to show him holding a bouquet of flowers, but his face is not yet revealed.
After saying their relationship “burned out” because “that’s how fire works,” Block explained that the young couple, who were in love, eventually found their way back together after breaking up.
“Two years later/I never thought I’d be able to tell you/I think I’ll do it again/I’ll take a detour to find you/I’ll put the shot back in the glass/I’ll leave my lonely heart in a lonely bar/Yeah, I can’t take back the long nights/I’ll take all the red wine out of my pack/I’ll smoke it again/You know what/I’ll do it all over again/I’ll take a detour to find you/Elijah,” she sings.
As the song plays, he eventually heads to her house, where she meets him at the front door and receives flowers. Then they dance sweetly together on her front porch.
In July 2024, Bullock spoke to People backstage after a show at Chicago’s Windy City Smokeout, where he opened up about his music and love life.
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“There’s a guy that’s definitely a surefire guy,” Bullock tells PEOPLE. “I’m so happy. Maybe I’m exaggerating to be honest, but I’m so happy right now and my relationship feels like home and it’s something I protect. One day we’ll let it all out, but right now I’m just enjoying this moment that we have and it doesn’t belong to anyone else.”
The 59th Annual CMA Awards will be broadcast live on ABC from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Wednesday, November 19th from 8:00 PM to 11:00 PM. The program will be streamed on Hulu starting the next day.
