Clean slate. Kelsea Ballerini hinted at getting a fresh start after announcing her split from husband Morgan Evans.
“Right where I’m at with what I have,” the songwriter, 28, captioned a snap shared via Instagram on Wednesday, August 31. In the photo, Ballerini gazed out at a picturesque view at sunset.
The Tennessee native received supportive comments from fellow country artists, including Carly Pearce, who wrote: “And we are all so proud of you 😘.”
A second post uploaded on Thursday, September 1, revealed Ballerini’s latest single would drop that night. She shared a glimpse of the cover for “What I Have,” which features her sitting in a corn field holding an acoustic guitar, via Instagram. “Wow this looks so good,” Natasha Bedingfield commented, while Betty Who added, “Can’t wait.”
The “Miss Me More” singer announced earlier this week that she and Evans, 37, had called it quits after nearly five years of marriage. “Friends, I’ve always tried my best to share my life with you in a real and vulnerable way, while also protecting layers of my personal life as they unfold,” she wrote via her Instagram Story on Monday, August 29. “This is now public record so I wanted you to hear from me directly that I am going through a divorce.”
Ballerini continued: “This deeply difficult decision is the result of a journey of love, growth, and effort that ultimately has come to an end. It’s hard to find the words here … but I feel extremely grateful for the years of marriage to Morgan and hopeful for the next seasons. With very active schedules coming up, please be mindful that we are both fragile, actively healing, and showing up the best we can.”
Hours after news of the breakup made headlines, the Australia native issued a statement of his own. “I am very sad to confirm that after almost 5 years of marriage, Kelsea and I are parting ways. I wish it were otherwise but sadly it is not,” Evans noted in an Instagram Story.
The estranged couple got engaged in December 2016 after less than one year of dating. They exchanged vows in Mexico in December 2017 and were each other’s strongest supporters as they each rose to country music stardom. However, Ballerini explained earlier this year that the twosome tried not to let their work interfere with their marriage.
“We don’t [write together],” the “Love Is a Cowboy” singer said on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in July. “You know, because we do the same thing all the time so we already bring it home. Imagine, like, them coming home and you’re like, ‘Hey, like this hook? You want to write it?’ It’s just too much.”
She added at the time: “We both show each other everything. We’re pretty brutal. So I can only show him something if I’m like, ‘I know I love this, so even if he thinks it sucks, I’m still going to hang my hat on it.’ But I think you have to have that with anyone in your inner circle. You need that brutal honesty to you know, to know if it’s good or not.”
The Grammy nominee filed for divorce on Friday, August 26, in Davidson County, Tennessee, according to court documents obtained by Us Weekly. Before calling it quits, the pair attempted to work through their ups and downs.
“They’ve been working on their marriage for many years and have even tried therapy,” a source exclusively told Us on Monday, adding that the musicians “privately separated at one point” before the breakup. “They ultimately decided that they had no choice but to officially separate.”
