Kylie Morgan on the Moment She Knew Her Marriage Was Over (Exclusive)

When Kylie Morgan split from her husband, she almost lost hope for love entirely. Then, after embarking on a personal journey, Alek Halverson came along and inspired “Then You Happened.”

It all started in 2024 when the country singer went through “the most traumatic year of my life.” She left her record label and her management, her parents got a divorce — and she worked up the courage to walk away from her own marriage.

“I stayed for longer than I should have and that’s because I’m a very committed person. When I make a commitment, I wanna stick to it… But once the fear of leaving became less of a fear than staying, that’s when I knew it was time,” Morgan, 30, tells PEOPLE exclusively of her marriage to Jay Allen.

Morgan and Allen — who started dating in 2015 — were engaged in June 2021 and married in November 2022. Morgan filed for divorce in February, with the split finalized in May of this year. After their divorce was finalized, Allen, 39, announced the news on Instagram and said he was “on a journey of sobriety, healing, growing, leaning into God and I’ve moved on.”

The singer, who competed on The Voice in 2022, added, “I will always care for Kylie & wish her the best.”

Though she and Allen separated in October 2024, Morgan says that their issues started “a very long time ago.” Then, one day she realized she needed to put herself first.

“I have worked really hard on myself and my mental health and all of that in between to allow people to have a relationship with me, rather than just give it all away like I always have,” she says.

“That’s what has really gotten me through this whole process: realizing that my energy is worth protecting and that I know I am a good person,” she continues. “I was not made to believe that for a lot of years because I was trapped in something that I was very confused in.”

Months after her separation, Morgan reconnected with Halverson — whom she first met six years ago — when he asked her to come on his radio show. At the time, each were ending their marriages, and the two “trauma bonded.”

“I always went for the wrong people and it’s never felt more right here,” she says, adding that her “picker was broken” before. “In every single relationship I was in, I would always dim myself and shrink myself to let that other person feel manly or feel seen or feel like they can shine.”

On the other hand, Halverson, 30, became her “biggest fan immediately.”

“I was [married to] my ex for two years and he came to one show out of town. Then I started dating Alek and he has missed one show,” she says. “I always felt like I had to choose. And in this, I finally feel not only supported, but built up instead of torn down.”

Those feelings are apparent in her music. In August, Morgan released “Then You Happened,” a song about finding love after heartbreak — and completely changing her outlook.

“The girl who writes, ‘I’m independent, don’t need no man’ songs wrote a love song. And I was like, ‘What is happening?'” she says.

Now, Morgan — who’s an independent artist — finds herself writing “the best songs I’ve ever written” and she’s looking to her fans for feedback on social media (she’s teased several songs since “Then You Happened,” like “Break Up with Me,” and “Used to Have To”). She plans to release her next album in the spring — and has shows booked for the rest of 2025.

“This era is just like… It still blows my mind to see my life a year and a half ago and see where I am now. It’s been a very humbling experience, but also a fight for my life experience. I feel like I grow in terrifying situations,” she explains. “The name of my first album is Making It Up As I Go, and I still do that every day of my life.”

As for her personal life, for the first time in as long as she can remember, Morgan is no longer on the run.

“I spent my 20s … this might sound bad, but I hated being home. I loved being on the road. I didn’t have peace at home. I felt like I was like a stranger in my own home,” she says.

“Now I’ve found such a love for resting and being at home and having that peace to recharge instead of constantly running from everything like I did for years. So for the first time, instead of running being my first verb, it’s actually staying.”