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Kelsea Ballerini is moving on after the “real pain” she felt after her divorce from ex Morgan Evans.
Ballerini, 29, and new boyfriend Chase Stokes, 30, were spotted on their first public date Thursday night. The new couple, who reportedly began dating in December 2022, were photographed sharing a kiss at a hockey game at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The “Outer Banks” actor recently revealed he’s been a fan of the country music star during an interview on the “Today” show.
“Absolutely, I’m a fan,” he said. “Who isn’t a fan?”
KELSEA BALLERINI SLAMS EX-HUSBAND MORGAN EVANS: ‘HOW WAS I MARRIED TO THIS PERSON?’
Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes share a kiss during a date night in New York City. (Lauren Menowitiz/Shutterstock)
Stokes and Ballerini first sparked romance rumors in January, but Ballerini revealed on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast that they actually began dating in December.
After nearly five years of marriage, Ballerini announced her separation from Evans in August on Instagram. The two originally met in 2016 while hosting the CMC Music Awards in Australia and wed in 2017.
“I’ve always tried to share my life with you in a real and vulnerable way, while also protecting layers of my personal life as they unfold,” Ballerini wrote at the time. “This is now public record so I wanted you to hear from me directly that I am going through a divorce.
“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. With very active schedules coming up, please be mindful that we are both fragile, actively healing and showing up the best we can.”
Kelsea Ballerini and Morgan Evans announced their divorce in August 2022. (Taylor Hill)
While going through the divorce, Ballerini wrote a six-song EP, “Rolling Up the Welcome Mat.” She released the emotional album Valentine’s Day.
Ballerini’s mother noted that writing the songs based on her own experience with the ongoing divorce was “cathartic” for the singer but emphasized that the music was about “real pain.”
“As she was sending me those songs when she would write them … I would just bawl,” Carla Denham explained during an appearance on the “Got It From My Momma” podcast. “The songs were hard enough to listen to, but I also know that it’s cathartic for her. That’s her way of processing hurt and pain. It’s to go write it — then it’s out of her.”
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Morgan Evans and Kelsea Ballerini got married in 2017. (John Shearer)
Ballerini filmed music videos to go with each track.
“I was thinking, ‘God, how are you gonna do that?’ I couldn’t do that. There’s no way,” the singer’s mom said. “If she had hired an actress to do that, it still would’ve hurt for me to watch it, but to watch her acting out what she really felt and experienced was just … it’s that blend between I’m in total awe when she showed me the piece, and I just wanted to take her and put her in a plastic bubble and let’s just go away somewhere away from the world.
“I watched that film and the pain on her face … I’ve seen that pain. It’s real pain. That was a hard day for her.”
Kelsea Ballerini’s EP “Rolling Up the Welcome Mat” is based on her personal experience with divorce. (Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
MORGAN EVANS’ DAD RECALLS ‘EVERYTHING’ BEING ‘DESTROYED’ IN SINGER’S LIFE AFTER KELSEA BALLERINI DIVORCE
Evans released his own song based on his experience with the divorce. He wrote “Over for You” to help him process his emotions and heartbreak and released it after performing for an audience in Australia.
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“All my social media and the conversations I started having with people turned from ‘Great show man’ or ‘Come back to Kentucky soon’ to stuff like, ‘Thank you for writing the song. It’s getting me through my divorce,’ or ‘Thanks for putting into words what I felt when I went through this seven years ago,’ stuff like that,” Evans explained to Fox News Digital.
“When things started happening like that, I knew it was something I had to record properly and share, and that’s what we did. And I’m really proud of the song.”
