Kelsea Ballerini Announces Divorce From Morgan Evans: 'Deeply Difficult Decision'

One of country music's youngest couples, Kelsea Ballerini & Morgan Evans, is calling it quits!

The former love birds first met as co-hosts of Australia's Country Music Channel Awards in 2016 and married a year later. Fans of the duo are no strangers to the PDA-filled and sweet words the singers post to each other on social media. So it definitely came as a surprise when the "Love Me Like You Mean It" singer announced their split.

Here's what we know about their five-year relationship...

The "Miss Me More" singer took to her Instagram story to share the news of her divorce from Evans, which she described as a "deeply difficult decision." The country music star made an appeal to her fans in the concluding part of her message, which read:

"With very active schedules coming up, please be mindful that we are both fragile, actively healing, and showing up the best we can."

When the former couple was first introduced at an award show on the 12th of March 2016, the meeting seemed made in heaven as sparks began to fly that night at the after party. The star-crossed lovers reportedly shared a shot and had their first kiss at that same event.

By November that same year, the duo made their official red carpet debut at the Country Music Association Award in coordinating outfits, looking so much in love. The following month they announced their engagement and subsequently got married a year later, on the 2nd of December 2017.

The "tequila-themed" wedding ceremony took place in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, with about 100 of their close friends and family. The "Young Again" singer shared that their handwritten vows were the highlight, as he couldn't get over how beautiful his bride's vows were—adding that they couldn't stop their tears from flowing before he got a chance to finish saying his vows.

The stars released their first song together in October 2018, "Dance With Me." The music was initially supposed to be a single written by Morgan about Kelsea, but he changed his mind after she asked him to sing on one of her songs as well. The "Legends" singer was at first hesitant to jump on the track but did after her former beau insisted, and it turned out to be his favorite song he'd ever written. 

After about three years together, the former couple shared the news that they had bought a house and would move from a downtown apartment in Nashville to the suburbs. The singers announced the move on their respective Instagram pages, with the "Carry On" singer captioning his post by noting that they had a lot of great memories. While he was "Grateful for everyone," they looked forward to their next adventure. 

Fast forward to 2021, the then couple shared several other milestones, including celebrating each other's birthdays with love-filled posts showing their love at the time. That year, Kelsea opened up about her marriage with Morgan, sharing how she initially was not keen on marriage because of the environment she grew up. 

By March 2022, followers of the former couple began to notice signs of trouble in paradise, especially when the "Hell's Kitchen" guest was spotted without her wedding ring several times. Rumors began to spread, but neither of them commented. Then on the 29th of August 2022, Kelsea shared a message via her Instagram stories expressing how she tries to share her life with her "Friends" in a realistic and authentic way while doing her best to shield and protect herself as well as she can. 

The star continued by noting that while the news was now public, she would rather her fans hear from her directly that she was "going through a divorce." The decision to end their five-year marriage was hard, and although she found it hard to find words, she would continue to be grateful for the years she shared with her husband while looking forward to new seasons. 

The singer ended the message by adding that they both had busy schedules ahead and would appreciate it if fans would treat them with empathy moving forward, as this was a difficult time for both of them. According to a source, the two of them had been trying to make the marriage work and that the decision to split was not sudden but well thought out.

The singer opened up about having sex before marriage in her book "Feel Your Way Through." The book contains details of the author's growing years and pain. She talked about the society she grew up in, her eating disorder, and a funny mishap before her first kiss.

Last November, The Blast shared that the writer promoted her book via an Instagram post, where she shared how she started songwriting early as a form of therapy to deal with her parent's divorce. She added that it was a habit of hers to "celebrate the good and grieve the bad, and shifting to poetry allowed me to go deeper" through writing.

She ended the caption by recalling how, in her preteen years, she waxed her upper lip, burning it in the process before a kiss that did not end up happening. The 28-year-old shared how living in the south, especially in a church, led her to experience years of shame because she had sex before marriage." 

Fans of the "Half Of My Hometown" singer flooded the comment section of her post with a massive show of support. Some left comments like, "Kels, your words are perfect," "Your book is beautiful, Kelsea! I love you even more. So proud of you for #FeelYourWayThrough," and many more.