Kelsea Ballerini and Morgan Evans Open up About Their Road to the Altar

Many fans know that newlyweds Kelsea Ballerini and Morgan Evans began dating after co-hosting an awards show in Australia together in March 2016, but they may not know that the pair had actually spoken before.

Evans explained to People that six months before they hosted the show, he interviewed the 24-year-old star for an Australian country music station.

"I got a copy of her album that day. I had it in my car to listen to and I was a fan," Evans said, adding that he told his friends, "Let me show you a song from my future wife."

The couple later reconnected at the show, where things heated up at the afterparty.

"He was like, 'Let's take a shot,'" Ballerini recalled. "I remember taking that shot and putting it down and looking at him like, 'Oh…he's superhot.' Later that night he leaned over and asked if he could kiss me, like a proper gentleman, and I said yes."

Ballerini now refers to the awards show as their "first date." Once the singers realized they lived in the same city, they began dating soon after.

"We both were in a place in our lives where we didn't think we were open to a relationship. So yeah, we tried to self-sabotage. And by the end of it we were like, 'We just aired out all of our dirty laundry and we still want to be together. This is awesome. We just did two years in two weeks,'" she explained.

Evans added, "I feel like it was all the stuff that you learn about someone over a long period of time that we sort of skipped to and then after a couple of weeks we're like, 'Huh, I still think you're awesome.'"

After nine months of dating, Evans popped the question on Christmas Day 2016, while Ballerini was making pancakes.

"Nine months seems like a short amount of time," Evans admitted of the pair's courtship, but "it was pretty obvious something was happening."

Now that they're married, the duo is focused on making their dreams come true while building a life together.

"When you can do everything you want and then share it with someone," Ballerini explained, "that makes for a full life."

Photo Credit: Getty / Kevork Djansezian