Kelsea Ballerini is not into the idea of joining the Pogues — sorry, Outer Banks fans.
“His space is his space and mine is mine,” Ballerini, 30, told E! News at the People’s Country Choice Awards on Thursday, September 28, referring to boyfriend Chase Stokes. “And being able to show up and support each other just as partners is so beautiful.”
An Outer Banks cameo might not be in the cards for Ballerini, but she’s not ruling out collaborating with boyfriend Stokes, 31, on some music.
“Never say never, I guess,” she said, when asked if a song collaboration was on the table to the couple.
While Stokes wasn’t by his girlfriend’s side at Thursday’s awards show (he supported her at rehearsals), Ballerini still brought the house down with a heartfelt performance of “Mountain With a View.” However, some fans were quick to accuse her of faking her vocals on stage.
“I just wanna say, if I was lip-synching, I would’ve sounded a lot better,” Ballerini wrote via her Instagram Story. “One of the cameras was off. Thank you and goodnight.”
“Mountain With a View” was first released on February 14, as part of Ballerini’s Rolling Up the Welcome Mat EP, which told the story of her and ex-husband Morgan Evans’ divorce.
Ballerini announced her and Evans’ split in August 2022 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 shared via Instagram at the time. “This is now public record so I wanted you to hear from me directly that I am going through a divorce.”
Both Ballerini and Evans, 38, got over their heartbreak by releasing music. The “Blindsided” songstress, officially moved on with Stokes in January.
In August, Ballerini proved she had officially moved on from her divorce with the release of Rolling Up the Welcome Mat (For Good). The rereleased EP included new song “How Do I Do This?” which Ballerini told Us Weekly exclusively in August was “about the first date after” a breakup — seemingly referencing Stokes.
“It’s about the nerves of going into a very unknown world,” she explained to Us. “And, to me, I felt like since I hadn’t really gotten to share my story in my perspective on what had happened in my life yet, that needed to come second. That is part two. I felt like I really wanted to talk about, you know, the breakup, and let that kind of live in one piece. And then if I ever decided to do what we’re doing now — Rolling Up the Welcome Mat (For Good) — then that would be kind of the extension of the story.”
She continued: “Especially now, I’ve been in a new relationship for a while now, and people have seen that. So, I feel like it’s a really appropriate time to catch everyone up and to be able to move the narrative from the past to the present.”
