Kelsea Ballerini, who called herself "a people pleaser" in her October 2022 CBS interview, is no stranger to the consequences of staying in a relationship past its expiration date. The singer published a poetry book titled "Feel Your Way Through" in 2021 that detailed how watching her parents' divorce affected her view on relationships and turned her off to the idea of marriage.

In a November 2021 interview with People, Ballerini called her parents' split "super-messy and really drawn out." The country star credited this experience for shaping her perspective of her marriage with Morgan Evans. "I have a different idea of marriage, but I would think I have a healthier idea of marriage," she told People. "I don't see it as a fairytale-esque, ride-off-into-the-sunset kind of thing. It's work, but it's worth it."

Ballerini and Evans attended couple therapy throughout their relationship, but the pair couldn't make it work — and for Ballerini, that's okay. While on an episode of "Live From Bed with Jade Iovine" (formerly known as "Tell Me About It with Jade Iovine," Ballerini said that staying with Evans would have been a "disservice and a dishonoring of yourself if you know something is not right and you just stay." She added, "[Shame] is one thing that I just refuse to feel."