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Kelsea Ballerini hilariously revealed how she pulled off an impressive wardrobe change while she was on stage making her MTV VMAs debut on Tuesday night (September 12), which was also her 30th birthday.
Ballerini shared a video on TikTok on Wednesday (September 13). The 30-second clip shows the “Subject To Change” superstar getting ready for her highly-anticipated VMA performance, delivering a powerful rendition of “Penthouse (Healed Version)” from her extended EP, Rolling Up The Welcome Mat (For Good).
Ballerini stood in her stunning white strapless gown with her hair wrapped in a towel. She previewed for her team that she would sing the “Penthouse” lyric, “And it stings rolling up the welcome mat/ Knowing you got half.” That’s when there would be a “dramatic pause,” and as a spotlight and fog block Ballerini from the camera’s view, she would strategically remove the white gown to reveal a short black dress in time for the next line: “I kissed someone new last night/ And now I don't care where you're sleeping, baby.”
Ballerini wrote in her caption that she’s “telling my future children i was once houdini,” after pulling off the quick wardrobe change on stage.
Rolling Up The Welcome Mat made a surprised debut on Valentine’s Day. Ballerini released the six-track EP along with an accompanying short film, telling her side of the story of her divorce after nearly five years of marriage. She followed it up with Rolling Up The Welcome Mat (For Good) last month, adding a seventh track — about beginning to date again after divorce, now that she’s in a relationship with Outer Banks actor Chase Stokes — and making now-famous lyric updates to some previously-released tracks.
“(Rolling Up The Welcome Mat) was necessary for me personally and my journey for making sense of my life at that time,” Ballerini told iHeartRadio’s Amy Brown during her exclusive iHeartRadio LIVE show in Nashville, Tennessee. “And now, in this season, I’m learning that it was necessary for me to open up more as an artist and as a songwriter and learn that the more zoomed in I can get, the better it is all around. It’s been a huge learning experience and necessary.”
Ballerini walked the red carpet at the 2023 MTV VMAs in a stunning red dress, matching Stokes’ jacket. The “HEARTFIRST” star confirmed their budding romance in an interview earlier this year, after rumors swirled on social media. Ballerini said that she’s no longer single and she and Stokes are “having fun” together.