Maren Morris Shares Her Top Dating Rule After Divorce (Exclusive)

Maren Morris is moving on.

The Grammy winner, 34, finalized her divorce from ex-husband Ryan Hurd, 37, in January after nearly six years of marriage. And while she’s slowly beginning to date again, she doesn’t feel any pressure.

In a recent interview, Morris opens up about what she learned about herself and how she emerged stronger from the public split.

“I think pouring myself into another person is probably not a healthy way of going about things. I think it shifts the expectations and power and entitlement a lot,” she shares. “I just have to put 100 percent into myself, and you truly have to be a spectacularly impressive individual to add something to my life because — and I don’t mean to sound full of myself — but the life that I’ve built, I am really, really happy with.”

Morris — who rose to fame with her soulful breakout country hit “My Church” in 2016 — chronicles the difficult year she faced on her new EP Intermission.

“I love my career, I love my baby [son Hayes, 4, with Hurd], I love my home, I love my friends,” she says. “Those are all things that matter to me, and those are self-made. I only will allow someone to come into my life if they amplify any of it. They can’t be a net negative. They can’t drain my resources, and I mean that in every sense of the word. Financially, emotionally, spiritually. You truly have to have your s— together to be any part of my life at this point.”

Following the divorce, Morris — who came out as bisexual in June — now has some ground rules when it comes to dating.

“I don’t hide any part of myself. I feel like I can’t really do that because I’m a public figure, semi-public, so everything’s on the table, but I also have to protect my heart,” she notes. “I think there’s less pressure to make anything spark or happen, it’s just like I’m enjoying dating for the first time. Nothing crazy has happened yet, it’s just mostly been like okay, I can still do this, I guess, and meet a stranger and connect through conversation. That’s tougher than you’d think.”

And while she’s not rushing into anything serious, she’s enjoying this new phase of her life.

“I am excited. This part of myself is the most confident and just not taking herself too seriously, so it is the perfect moment to be dating,” Morris adds. “My rules are just you have to be really spectacular to push me over.”

Now on her genre-blurring, deeply personal Intermission record, Morris finds strength in vulnerability as she makes sense of her divorce and what has followed.

“This feels like an amazing journey of discovery,” she reflects, “and also the heartbreak of the death of a relationship and what fun and joy you find in the aftermath of a trauma or a tragedy like that.”

Morris, currently on her RSVP Redux tour with son Hayes in tow, credits her close-knit group of friends for getting her through some dark days post-split.

“My friends definitely have pulled me through the worst of it. Now I just feel like these are the people that whether I’m in a relationship with someone or not, these are the people that are my family,” she says. “I went on a trip a couple of months ago to Mexico with some girlfriends, and a few of us have been through divorce or co-parenting and so we were all just bonding over that, and it was just like: Holy s—, this is what we’re supposed to be here for. It’s not romantic relationships, it’s our relationships with women and friendships that’s going to get us through the years.”