Kelsea Ballerini Admits She’s Got Regrets About Her Divorce Album

Kelsea Ballerini‘s Rolling Up the Welcome Mat changed her life and the trajectory of her career, and she’ll always be grateful for that.

But the singer says in hindsight, she wishes she’d done some things differently when she was making that project.

She got candid onstage during her second of two nights in Sydney, Australia, on Sunday (Dec. 7), admitting that hindsight has changed her opinion on some of the lyrics in her fan-favorite, raw divorce album from 2023.

“I could have been a bit more gentle,” Ballerini admits.

“It’s hard to say I regret it, because I love it and I’m proud of it and it’s honest, but at the same time, a lot of people were hurt because of that project,” the singer goes on to say.

What Did Kelsea Ballerini Say About Rolling Up the Welcome Mat?

Ballerini’s comments about her Welcome Mat album came during a vulnerable moment in the show where the singer was speaking about how entering into her 30s has brought up some questions and reflections she didn’t expect.

“One of the things that I’ve really been feeling in my life now that I’ve fully stepped into womanhood…there are so many things in life, big and small, that I in hindsight — with age, with growth — I wish I had done differently and handled with more care,” she admitted. “Or not done at all.”

She stopped short of saying she regrets the project altogether. On the contrary, she says Welcome Mat “changed my life and the way that I will make music forever and ever.”

But she does believe that some lyrics went too far.

“I think the true test and meter of growth is when you can look at yourself and go, ‘I get it, I see her, I love her, but damn it, Kels,'” Ballerini continued.

“Whether it’s the verses in this song, or whether it’s something I do after the show like drink one too many margaritas. Which I do quite often,” she added.

What is Kelsea Ballerini’s Rolling Up the Welcome Mat About? 

Rolling Up the Welcome Mat is Ballerini’s brutally honest divorce diary while she was going through her split from ex-husband Morgan Evans.

It arrived first as an EP, accompanied by a short film, in February 2023.

Songs like “Mountain With a View,” “Just Married” and “Penthouse” are standout tracks on the project, and contain some of the album’s most cutting and specific lyrics.

Read More: 8 Brutally Honest Divorce Lyrics From Kelsea Ballerini’s Rolling Up the Welcome Mat

Fans made the songs their own, but some have also used them as an opportunity to take sides in the divorce — even years after Ballerini and Evans split up.

Specifically, “Penthouse” has been a trigger point at some of Ballerini’s shows, with fans yelling out jeers against Evans (or, more rarely, Ballerini.)

Why Did Kelsea Ballerini Threaten to Stop Singing “Penthouse”?

Just one night before she reflected on her regrets surrounding Welcome Mat, Ballerini played another show in Sydney, and during that concert, a heckler yelled out “Team Morgan!” as she was singing “Penthouse.”

After that incident, Ballerini gave a warning on social media, saying she’ll remove “Penthouse” from the setlist if anyone else yells something “disrespectful” again.

Read More: Kelsea Ballerini Warns She’ll Stop Singing ‘Penthouse’ if Fans Can’t Be Respectful

“Please let this be a song that matters to people and not a place to insert yourself into a world that doesn’t exist and was never yours to begin with,” she wrote.

It’s worth noting that this performance took place in Australia — Evans’ home country — so it’s possible that some fans there were rooting for him in the divorce, enough to still bear a grudge against Ballerini more than three years later.