Life imitates art! If Kelsea Ballerini’s new “Penthouse” lyrics are any indication, then the country songstress has recovered from her divorce from Morgan Evans.
“‘Penthouse (the healed version).’ I think I’m gonna keep the lyric swap, yeah?” Ballerini, 29, captioned a Saturday, May 13, TikTok video of herself singing the Rolling Up the Welcome Mat song during one of her recent concerts with Kenny Chesney.
“Penthouse,” which was released in February, seemingly looks back at Ballerini’s marriage to Evans, 38, after they moved into a penthouse apartment in downtown Nashville. By the end of the track, the pair have moved out amid their divorce.
“It hurts putting s—t in a box / And now we don’t talk,” the “Heartfirst” artist sings. “And it stings rolling up the welcome mat / Knowing you got half. I kissed someone new last night / But now I don’t know where you’re sleeping, baby. We got along real nice, until I wanted out, now I know you hate me.”
During her concert earlier this week, Ballerini swapped the lyrics to be “I kissed someone new last night / And now I don’t care where you’re sleeping, baby.”
The Tennessee native announced in August 2022 that she and the “Kiss Somebody” crooner had split after four years of marriage. Ballerini filed for divorce later that month, which was ultimately finalized in November 2022.
Amid the pair’s divorce proceedings, they each penned breakup tracks about their journey. Evans’ “Over for You” dropped in October 2022, several months before Ballerini’s six-song Rolling Up the Welcome Mat came out. Her EP even featured a subtle response to his “When was it over for you?” question.
“I think I was just kind of putting examples in there,” the “Hole in the Bottle” singer revealed on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast in February about releasing her EP. “I’ve taken the time to, like, actually sit in my feelings and, like, go through that grieving process and take ownership of what I brought to the table. … I wish I would’ve had [these songs] in August.”
One month later, Ballerini added a new outro to “Penthouse” during her Saturday Night Live debut.
“Now you’re singing out loud on the radio. But you’re the only heart that breaks,” she quipped at the time. “You would’ve searched the whole world over. Yeah, sure. OK.”
While Ballerini has since “healed” from their breakup, she’s already moved on with actor Chase Stokes. “Right now, they have a very no strings [attached] situation,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly in March. “[Kelsea and Chase are] rarely in the same place, so they’re still getting to know each other.”
The insider noted that the pair have “very flirty relationship” and “like each other and are staying in contact.”
Ballerini even brought the Outer Banks star, 30, as her date to the CMT Awards last month, in which they made their red carpet debut as a couple.
