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Carly Pearce describes an awkward moment filming her steamy duet video with Riley Green

The video for If I Don't Leave I'm Gonna Stay, from her album Honest Woman, has fans reacting online.

Carly Pearce Riley Green

Carly Pearce, with long wavy blonde hair, smiles while holding a sparkling black microphone close to her face on a purple-lit stage.
Pearce performing at Hogs for Hospice in Leamington, Ontario, in August 2025. Photo: Chris Woodrich, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Carly Pearce says she nearly apologized to Riley Green mid-shoot for their duet video "If I Don't Leave I'm Gonna Stay," from her upcoming album Honest Woman, due August 28. Pearce has called the clip the "hottest music video" of the last 20 years, and it has drawn a strong reaction online since its release.

Speaking on Taste of Country Nights, Pearce said filming was awkward for both because she and Green are just friends rather than a couple. "When I hit his mustache, I immediately wanted to say I'm sorry," she said, laughing. "I felt like I almost had done something wrong, like, 'Oh my gosh, I shouldn't have done that!'"

Both stars pushed through the discomfort, Pearce said: "Riley, he was a great sport and we full-sent it. We knew we had to commit." Asked whether other fans have told her they're jealous of her closeness to Green in the video, Pearce didn't hold back: "They're very jealous. I feel like every girl around the world... that listens to country music was probably envious of me."

Pearce joked about her own role in the video's reception: Pearce joked that she had simply had to push through it for everyone's sake, laughing that it was "just another day on the job."

The duet joins the rest of the fall's new country releases on the release calendar.

The facts

  • The duet is If I Don't Leave I'm Gonna Stay, featuring Riley Green
  • It appears on Pearce's upcoming album Honest Woman, due August 28
  • Pearce called the video the hottest music video of the last 20 years
  • She described the shoot as awkward since she and Green are just friends
  • Fans reacted strongly to the video online

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