When Kelsea Ballerini filed for divorce from Morgan Evans in 2022, it put her in a place where her personal life was being highlighted just as much as her music for the first time. In a new interview with The Tennesseean, she described this phenomenon as “super terrifying.” However, bringing it back to her fans helped Kelsea “change the expectations” for the rest of her career, and it’s helped her make her most personal music yet. “I’m capable of soft feelings, but I’m also now aware that I also have an emotional place where I have nothing left to feel and run out of s**** to give,” she admitted.
Kelsea isn’t denying that she changed after this difficult time in her life, but it’s led to a path of self-discovery. “I used to be this flirty, fun and glittery person,” she admitted. “Then, life put me in a different headspace. Now I’m discovering who I am right now.” Amidst this time of introspection, Kelsea has also found love again. She started dating Outer Banks star Chase Stokes at the beginning of 2023.
On her new EP Rolling Up The Welcome Mat (For Good), the deluxe version of February’s Rolling Up The Welcome Mat, Kelsea leaves it all on the table regarding her divorce and moving on. The deluxe edition features a full length version of the “Interlude” from the original EP. On the longer track, Kelsea gives more of an insight into her split from Morgan, seemingly accusing him of purposely hiding his location from her when they were together. She also sings, “I hope you sleep better at night now that you got an army, of people that believe I’m the word you used to call me.”
However, the deluxe EP concludes with Kelsea moving on from that chapter and into the next one. The brand new track, “How Do I Do This,” features Kelsea’s inner monologue ahead of her first date with Chase. “I’m scared of looking stupid, said I’m ready, now I gotta prove it,” she sings in the chorus. “Got a little black dress, I wanna use it and maybe lose it on a floor that ain’t mine. I think it’s probably time to keep it moving, I talk a big game that I’m scared of losing. Everything I know about love is ruined, it’s so confusing.”
Kelsea previously opened up about her split from Morgan on the Call Her Daddy podcast in February. She admitted that the two being on different pages about having kids was a big catalyst for their split. She also accused Morgan of not putting effort into the relationship, claiming that he didn’t make time to see her amidst their busy schedules. He seemed to refute these claims on his song “Over For You,” where he sings, “I would’ve searched the whole world over for you, took a flight, through the night, to be that shoulder for you.”
Kelsea’s side of the story, though, is that Morgan wouldn’t get on those overnight flights to see her, even when she went out of her way to send him the logistics. She claps back at him on a new version of the song “Blindsided,” which is featured on Rolling Up The Welcome Mat (For Good). “Now you’re singing it loud on the radio, you couldn’t say it to my face, you would’ve searched the whole world over? Yeah, sure, okay,” Kelsea says on the track.