BREAKING: Kelsea Ballerini And Morgan Evans To Divorce: ‘It’s Hard To Find The Words’

Kelsea Ballerini announces that after nearly five years of marriage, she has filed for divorce from Morgan Evans.

The “Heartfirst” singer wanted to be the one to share the news, so she took to her Instagram story on Monday (Aug. 29) to give her thoughts on the “deeply, difficult decision.” 

“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. This is now public record so I wanted you to hear from me directly that I am going through a divorce,” she wrote. 

“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.”

Moving forward with their busy schedules, Ballerini requests that fans remain “mindful that we are both fragile, actively healing and showing up the best we can.”

Evans followed with his own statement saying, “I am very sad to confirm that after almost five years of marriage, Kelsea and I are parting ways. I wish it were otherwise, but sadly it is not.

A source told People that the couple has been “working on their marriage for a very long time.”

“Prior to this they had separated privately once before and have been in therapy for several years,” a source also told People. “They gave it their best go but unfortunately arrived at the decision to formally separate.”

The country stars met in 2016 while co-hosting Australia’s Country Music Channel Awards, but their connection really blossomed at the after-party when Evans offered Ballerini a celebratory shot. She later told People, “I remember taking that shot and putting it down and looking at him like, ‘Oh…he’s superhot.’ Later that night he leaned over and asked if he could kiss me, like a proper gentleman, and I said yes.”

Less than a year later, Evans got down on one knee and popped the question on Christmas Day with a custom ring. 

At the time, Ballerini shared a few details on social media surrounding the moment he proposed. “This morning, 9 months and 13 days later, he got down on one knee in the kitchen while I was burning pancakes and asked me to marry him. Loving him has been the greatest gift of my life. And now I get to do it for life. #HECALLEDDIBS.”

Morgan added, “When you know, you know … she’s perfect. #ultimatedibs”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Morgan Evans (@morganevansmusic)

In December 2017, they tied the knot in an intimate ceremony on the beach in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Once again, they decided it was only fitting that they celebrate with a tequila shot. “It’s a little bit different,” Kelsea told People,“but that’s how we started.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Morgan Evans (@morganevansmusic)

Since that time, the two-time Grammy Award nominee has shared that they are strong believers in the power of therapy and that they have gone both together and individually. 

“I think it’s really important,” she previously told Extra. “Obviously we have a strange life. Like, we are both really busy and don’t get to spend as much time together… And just trying to find, like, the things that work for us.”

In her poetry book Feel Your Way Through, published last November, Ballerini discussed how her parents’ divorce affected her relationships. She even revealed that she didn’t think marriage was in the cards for her after seeing their “super-messy and really drawn-out split.” 

“I swore I was never going to get married,” she told People at the time. “For so long, I just viewed their marriage as their divorce. As I got older, I was able to have conversations with them both about their marriage, pre-divorce and realized that there was beauty there, there was love there at some point. That helped me realize that I could find that.”

Kelsea Ballerini is currently preparing for her new album, Subject to Change, set to drop on September 23.