Kelsea Ballerini on 'Call Her Daddy': Quotes, Revelations

Sharing her side of the story. Kelsea Ballerini didn’t hold back when it came to sharing the story of her and ex-husband Morgan Evans‘ divorce on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast episode on Wednesday, February 22.

“I think he loved me more at 23 and I love me more at 29,” the country singer shared during the podcast episode, shared two days before the full interview dropped. Kelsea was reiterating a sentiment from her Rolling Up the Welcome Mat EP and short film, which was released on February 14.

“I’m wearin’ 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,” Kelsea sings on the first track, titled “Mountain With a View.” When speaking about the EP with her followers, Kelsea called the six-song collection her “healing journey,” her “heart” and her “truth.”

The Tennessee native and Morgan got married in December 2017. The “Penthouse” songstress filed for divorce in August 2022, according to court docs obtained by Life & Style at the time. Their split was finalized in November 2022, Life & Style confirmed.

“As he’s putting out a song about being blindsided, he’s taking half the house that he didn’t pay for,” Kelsea continued, referring to Morgan’s “Over For You,” which was released in November 2022. “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 “Legends” singer hit back at the Australian singer’s claims that he was blindsided by their split with a song of the same name.

“Were you blindsided or were you just blind?” the lyrics to “Blindsided” read, referencing a specific fight the exes had in 2019.

“Before that big show, we had a big fight / I slept on the couch and then the next night you put on your suit,” she sings. “I put on a smile and sang about how it’s OK to cry, dying inside.”

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Fans have since shared that particular line on TikTok, noting that Kelsea appeared to be referencing her performance of “Homecoming Queen?” at the 2019 CMA Awards.

After discussing her highly publicized split with Morgan, the “Doin’ My Best” musician got real with “Call Her Daddy” host Alexandra Cooper about the next stage of her love life. As for who she’s dating? Kelsea has been romantically linked to Outer Banks star Chase Stokes.

Keep reading for all the biggest bombshell quotes from Kelsea’s “Call Her Daddy” interview.

Not So Dream Wedding

“I just wanted everyone to have a nice time. I didn’t want to have a wedding,” Kelsea admitted. “I didn’t think, at the end of the day, I really want to get married — I did in that moment, but fundamentally, I think from the trauma I had as a kid, I didn’t. I think I told myself that I did. And I take full responsibility of that narrative.”

Moving On

“Am I ready to date again? … I’ve never really dated. I don’t know how it works,” Kelsea explained, seemingly alluding to her new romance. “Am I single? Nope.”

As for jumping into dating just a few months after her divorce was finalized, Kelsea said she “grieved a lot of the marriage in the marriage” and was “ready to open back up.”

Rough Waters

“I just did it all, and it is because I started it that way,” she explained about overcompensating with her time and money in order to make their marriage work. “I didn’t ask him to meet me anywhere, I just did it.”

However, Kelsea began growing resentful, feeling like she was the only one putting effort into their relationship, adding, “I got to a place where if I was like, ‘If I wasn’t killing myself to figure out how this overlaps and how this works,’ as I’m like busy, we just wouldn’t exist.”

Taking Responsibility

“I was not perfect, he was not perfect, it was not perfect. And so, there were definitely moments that I look back on where I’m like, ‘Oh, I should of done that different,’ or, ‘I could of showed up here. I could of taken the flight this time,'” Kelsea said. “And in the unraveling, that thing I ended up sharing with him, just saying like, ‘I need to own the last few years of like, I think I checked out a long time ago, and I need to let you know that.”

Life Now

“I’m not married to him anymore, and I don’t need to care about his feelings anymore. And I mean that with all the respect in the world, but his journey is not mine anymore,” Kelsea said after being asked if she thought of Morgan after photos of her and Chase began circulating online. “I hope that he is protected from whatever he needs to be protected from seeing. I hope he has people in his life that help him do that, that is not my job.”

The “Yeah Boy” singer is having a “beautiful re-awakening” in her post-divorce life.

“I’m not exploiting what I am or am not doing, because I do want to be respectful. And also, it’s new. Everything’s new for me — dating, being photographed with someone, like, it’s all really new, and I’m tiptoeing,” she continued. “And I’m happy and I’m really re-learning a lot about myself and how I show up in a relationship and how I show up for myself.”

How They Met

Kelsea revealed that she made the first contact with Chase and “slid into his DMs.”

“I was just like, I’m not gonna get on an app. And honestly, he shoots in Charleston, and my manager lives there, and he like, put the bug in my ear. He’s like, ‘You know who’s really cute when you’re ready, it’s Chase.’ I was like, ‘You’re so right,'” she said. “I’ve never seen the show, but I just knew of him. And so, I followed him, and he followed me, and I just swan dove right on in.”