She’s subject to change. Kelsea Ballerini is continuing to peel back the curtain on her divorce from Morgan Evans — and she’s finally setting the record straight on her current relationship status.
The “Heartfirst” songstress, 29, sat down for a candid conversation with Alex Cooper on the Wednesday, February 22, episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast. While reflecting on her whirlwind romance with Evans, 37, Ballerini claimed that some people in her life were skeptical of his intentions.
“My friend Megan — I’ll never forget this — the first time she met him she pulled him aside and she said, ‘You have a lot more to gain from this than she does,’” she recalled. “I think we were in different places, you know, he’s nine years older than me and he was kind of restarting his career in the States. I was, like, digging my heels in.”
When asked whether she agreed with her friend’s perspective, the “Love Is a Cowboy” artist asserted: “I never felt like that until afterward.”
In a clip released before the full episode dropped, Ballerini threw shade at Evans, 37, who penned a breakup track titled “Over for You” following their August 2022 split. (The country singers were married for nearly five years before finalizing their divorce last November.)
“As he’s putting out a song about being blindsided, he’s taking half the house that he didn’t pay for. How was I married to this person for this long and had no idea that that bit of character was tucked within that human being?” the Tennessee native asked in the Monday, February 20, promo video, confirming things got “nasty” between the musicians after their split.
Ballerini hinted at some of the former couple’s marital woes on her fourth studio album, Subject to Change, which dropped last fall. Earlier this month, however, she shed new light on the duo’s ups and downs on her unfiltered EP Rolling Up the Welcome Mat — which she released on Valentine’s Day along with a short film.
“And now you’re saying that you’re lost, and that’s lost on me / Years of sitting across from me in therapy,” she sings on “Blindsided,” one of six new songs. “I know the truth is hard to hear, but it wasn’t hard to find / Baby, were you blindsided or were you just blind?”
At the end of the song, a voice recording plays of a woman — presumably Ballerini — saying, “You’ve been in this relationship. This isn’t new.”
On “Mountain With a View,” the Grammy nominee references Evans’ heartbreak anthem: “I’m wearing the ring still, but I think I’m lyin’ /Sometimes you forget yours, I think we’re done tryin’ / I realize you loved me much more at 23 / I think that this is when it’s over for me.”
After Ballerini and Evans called it quits, a source exclusively told Us Weekly that the pair “privately separated” before going public with their breakup. “They’ve been working on their marriage for many years and have even tried therapy,” the insider explained in August 2022. “They ultimately decided that they had no choice but to officially separate.”
Both the “Weather” singer and the Aussie crooner have been candid about their healing processes in the wake of their divorce. Ballerini, for her part, is rumored to have moved on with Chase Stokes. The duo sparked dating rumors after sharing cozy photos of one another in January from the College Football Playoff National Championship. They were later spotted holding hands in Nashville.
The “Peter Pan” artist has played coy about her relationship status — but she finally addressed the speculation on Wednesday. “I have opinions, I have a career that is a priority for me … and I have aspirations and goals that are tied to no one,” she said. “I have my s–t together and for me to share that with anyone is a gift. I want to be with someone that feels the same way about their life. … I’m a relationship bitch.”
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Scroll down for more of the biggest bombshells from Ballerini’s “Call Her Daddy” podcast interview: