Kelsea Ballerini’s split from her ex-husband Morgan Evans, though difficult, showed the singer that in the long run, one door closes so another one can open. Her 2023 EP Rolling Up the Welcome Mat gave a raw glimpse into her split from her ex—but it wasn’t all bad. Aside from the EP being a major success and a cathartic outlet for what she was going through, her breakup with Evans led her to her current beau, Chase Stokes, known by most for his role in the Netflix hit Outer Banks. Here, read all about their love story and the adorable way they got together!
How Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes first met
Prior to her romance with Stokes, Ballerini was married to fellow country musician Morgan Evans for about five years, but in 2022, the couple called it quits for good. On an episode of Tell Me About It With Jade Iovine, Ballerini shared some insight into the couple’s gradual separation before their divorce. “For a long time, I was like, ‘Oh this is just…The glitter wears off. That’s what happens,’” she said, referring to the phases of a relationship and the realization that it isn’t always going to be excitement and butterflies. “And then you get into a phase where you wait for it to come back. And then sometimes it doesn’t.”
Though a heartbreaking ordeal, Ballerini turned to music to heal, and her EP Rolling Up the Welcome Mat took listeners through the intimate parts of her relationship’s deterioration. However, when the time came that she was ready to get back out there, with a little boost from her friends, Ballerini reached out to Stokes via Instagram.
While appearing on the Call Her Daddy podcast, Ballerini revealed that she slid into Chase Stokes’ DMs to say hello and introduce herself. Planning to meet one another in person while they were both in LA a few weeks later, she invited him to a party the night before their official first date and luckily, they hit it off. “I really did [know] as soon as I met him, and maybe that sounds like I’ve learned zero things, but I’ve always been a heart-first girl, and the truth is it’s never led me astray,” she told NYLON. “I’ve always been where I needed to be while I needed to be there.”
“We are both very much so golden-retriever energy most of the time, but we both have a little bite in us, and we’re both incredibly driven,” she continued. “He is the first person I’ve been in a relationship with that I feel like is not my complete opposite.”
Chase Stokes’s take on his relationship with Kelsea
Like his girlfriend, Stokes hasn’t shied away from sharing his relationship with the world. While that can obviously come with negatives, sharing his excitement and genuine adoration for Ballerini is what feels authentic to him. “Look, it’s a delicate dance for everybody, balancing what’s public and private. For me, it can be a bizarre thing to watch people hide their relationships,” he told InStyle. “Because it’s natural, you get so excited to talk about your person who wins something, you want to celebrate all the moments within life. So I think for us, it was kind of a no-brainer to be a little open. We just really value real life. So I think being in a relationship, but hiding it from the world, would feel very false to both of us.”
That being said, you can always catch him singing her praises. On their two-year anniversary back in January, Stokes shared an adorable tribute to his lady, saying, “2 laps around the sun with you, i love you kb (especially when you laugh so hard you wheeze, and 8 am dance routines to your toothbrush).” We can’t get enough of these two!
