Country Music News

Kelsea wraps four years of hosting CMT Music Awards, teases forthcoming projects

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After four years of being a CMT Music Awards host, Kelsea Ballerini is closing this page of her career and moving on to a new chapter of exciting things.

“That’s a wrap. I’ve done it for four years, and I love it so much, but I think hosting for me was the first thing that I did out of like performance and music,” Kelsea tells ET. “That was the first thing that made me go, ‘Wait, what else?’ And so now I’m back in a season of like — I want the space in my life to ask, ‘What else?'”

So what else might Kelsea work on next?

“I’m dabbling into a lot of new things that I can’t wait to tell you about,” the “Heartfirst” singer teases. “It’s definitely a year of being out of my comfort zone. The record is my biggest priority but there’s a lot that I haven’t talked about yet that is coming up.”

One thing Kelsea hopes to lock in? Having her boyfriend, Chase Stokes, collaborate on a song with her.

“He has such a good voice, too. He has such a good talking voice, just when he sings I’m like, ‘Agh, yeah,'” Kelsea gushes.

“I’m trying,” she adds. “I’m just like, ‘Do like a pseudonym and sing a harmony on the record, no one has to know.’

After four years of being a CMT Music Awards host, Kelsea Ballerini is closing this page of her career and moving on to a new chapter of exciting things.

“That’s a wrap. I’ve done it for four years, and I love it so much, but I think hosting for me was the first thing that I did out of like performance and music,” Kelsea tells ET. “That was the first thing that made me go, ‘Wait, what else?’ And so now I’m back in a season of like — I want the space in my life to ask, ‘What else?'”

So what else might Kelsea work on next?

“I’m dabbling into a lot of new things that I can’t wait to tell you about,” the “Heartfirst” singer teases. “It’s definitely a year of being out of my comfort zone. The record is my biggest priority but there’s a lot that I haven’t talked about yet that is coming up.”

One thing Kelsea hopes to lock in? Having her boyfriend, Chase Stokes, collaborate on a song with her.

“He has such a good voice, too. He has such a good talking voice, just when he sings I’m like, ‘Agh, yeah,'” Kelsea gushes.

“I’m trying,” she adds. “I’m just like, ‘Do like a pseudonym and sing a harmony on the record, no one has to know.'”

As you wait for Kelsea to roll out her upcoming album and the new project she’s working on, you can check out her reimagined version of her debut single, “Love Me Like You Mean It,” out now.

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