Morgan Evans and Kelsea Ballerini Announce Divorce

After almost five years of marriage, Morgan Evans and Kelsea Ballerini are calling it quits!

In a statement posted to Instagram stories on Monday, August 29, Ballerini wrote:

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

Evans added his own statement, writing, “I am very sad to confirm that after almost 5 years of marriage, Kelsea and I are parting ways. I wish it were otherwise but sadly it is not.”

The country singers first met in March 2016 while co-hosting the CMC Awards. They wed in December 2017 in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico after a year-long engagement.

After the wedding, Ballerini shared a tweet that tipped a hat to a classic country love song by Randy Travis. "I'm gonna love you forever. Forever and Evans, Amen," she wrote.

I’m gonna love you forever. Forever and Evans, Amen. ❤️ @Morgan_Evans

— Kelsea Ballerini (@KelseaBallerini) December 3, 2017

Ballerini filed for divorce on Friday in Tennessee.

"They've 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 told PEOPLE. "They gave it their best go but unfortunately arrived at the decision to formally separate."

Ballerini will release her fifth studio album, Subject To Change on September 23.

She says, “In my younger years, the idea of change scared me. It had proven to be a faceless force that patterned my past with uncertainty. Only in the gift of growth have I learned that in the stark and constant juxtaposition of life, living happens – that when I unclench my fists, undig my heels, and unravel the architecture built by youth, a true metamorphosis can happen.

“I’ve been searching somewhere between the broadness of the universe, and the simplicity in the little things, reflecting through wiser perspectives, leaning with body weight into matters of the heart, and finding blissful acceptance in the inner cracks I once cursed, but now let the light in to grow taller within myself. This is a season of becoming, healing, loving, dancing, and feeling. And like everything, it is subject to change,” she added.

Evans will play a string of shows with Brad Paisley and MacKenzie Porter in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne this September-October – which includes an appearance at CMC Rocks QLD.

Ballerini joined Evans on the track Dance With Me from his 2018 second studio album, Things That We Drink To. He also wrote and released the love songs I Do and Diamonds for Ballerini.