Carly Pearce is sharing more details about her romantic “If I Don’t Leave I’m Gonna Stay” video with Riley Green. In the sensuous video, the two play each other’s on-again, off-again love interests. While they may look like they are attracted to each other in the video, Pearce admits they struggled to get through some of the scenes.

“We aren’t dating in real life, so to have to stare into each other’s eyes, we absolutely at times just busted out laughing,” Pearce recalls to Billboard. “It was funny. And to have so many people on the crew watching you… For the most part, we stayed in character. But what’s funny is the shots where we’re singing to each other, that was our first shot together. It’s like, ‘Wow, they really threw us into the deep end.’”

In the video, Pearce and Green commit fully to the storyline, even if it does not at all mirror their real lives.

“We had a great time, and I think [Riley] would tell you the same thing,” Pearce says. “Obviously, we are not together, so it was kind of like, ‘Okay, is this going to be awkward or is it going to be fine?’ And it was odd how not weird it was. I really felt like [the director] had the storyline nailed down. In the moment, there were little things I think Riley and I kind of creatively had a few liberties on — I threw my leg over his, or he kisses my hand or shoulder. We were trying to do, I think, probably what each of us would naturally do in a relationship in those kinds of moments.”

What Carly Pearce Says About Her ‘If I Don’t Leave I’m Gonna Stay’ Duet With Riley Green

“If I Don’t Leave I’m Gonna Stay,” written by Jordan Reynolds, Devin Dawson, Seth Ennis, and Jordan Minton, is on Pearce’s next album, a record that also includes “Dream Come True” and “Church Girl.” No stranger to collaborations, Pearce knew as soon as she heard “If I Don’t Leave I’m Gonna Stay” that it was something special.

“There have been a few moments in my career where I just knew we had something — this is one of those for me where I was like, ‘If this plays out like it’s playing out in my head, it’s going to be good,’” Pearce says. “I’ve been looking forward to releasing this song and video for weeks. I was just ready to share it.”

Pearce knew she wanted to do a duet with Green. But even she admits she was pleasantly surprised at the end result.

“I love collaborations, obviously,” Pearce says on SiriusXM’s The Highway. “I’ve also had a lot of success with collaborations. I’ve gotten to collaborate with so many amazing people that I set myself — I have a high bar of what I want. Obviously, Riley is Riley Green. But to me, I’ve gotten to sing with him several times over the last couple of years, and I really liked — he’s more acoustic-driven in the way that he does music. He has this simple way of emoting that I really like. It’s not over-produced. It’s very honest; it’s very real. And when we sing together, I was like, ‘Oh, you feel familiar to me in that way,’ and he felt the same.”

Photo Credit: John Shearer