The couple first started dating in early 2023 and hit a rough patch in late 2025.
Chase Stokes and Kelsea Ballerini attend the 60th Academy Of Country Music Awards held at the Ford Center at The Star on May 8, 2025 in Frisco, Texas.
Gilbert Flores
Fans have been rooting for Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes since the couple first sparked dating rumors in early 2023.
By that point, the country star had already been through a lot romantically. Ballerini was just 22 when she met fellow singer-songwriter Morgan Evans, whom she married in 2017 and later divorced in 2022 — a painful process which she documented on her EP Rolling Up the Welcome Mat. Stokes was also previously in a high-profile public relationship, having dated his Outer Banks costar Madeline Cline for more than a year before their split in 2021.
But after private dates turned to red-carpet appearances and sweet interview moments, fans knew that Ballerini and Stokes had found love again in each other. The pair have not shied away from expressing their love for each other in public and on social media, emphasizing how supportive they are of each other and their willingness to make their relationship last — even after it hit a rough patch in late 2025. The couple briefly broke up toward the end of the year, making for a confusing few months before announcing their renewed romance by the time 2026 came around (but more on that later).
From their cutest moments to big anniversaries and a little bit of on-and-off drama, the musician and actor have made for one of the most beloved and talked-about couples in the entertainment business. Take a look at how their dynamic has evolved over the years by checking out Billboard‘s timeline of their relationship below.
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January 2023: First Date
Ballerini recalled the details of her first date with Stokes in January 2023 during a guest appearance on Call Her Daddy that year.
After sliding into his DMs and realizing they had good chemistry over text, the pair met up for the first time after Ballerini performed at a party, she shared on the podcast. “He hopped out of his Bronco, and he did not say a word to me,” she gushed at the time. “And he grabbed my face and he kissed me and he pulled my face away and he said, ‘Thank God you’re real.’”
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April 2023: Red Carpet Debut
Ballerini and Stokes made their red carpet debut as a couple at the 2023 CMT Music Awards, which the country star hosted that year for the third year in a row. During her opening monologue, she alluded to her blossoming romance, earning cheers from the crowd.
“From Nashville and Austin to Yellowstone and the Outer Banks …,” she said during the show.
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September 2023: Kelsea Reveals How It All Started
In a post celebrating her boyfriend’s birthday, Ballerini shared screenshots revealing exactly how she’d slid into his DMs a few months prior, sparking their romance.
“hiii chase stokes,” she’d written at 1:07 a.m. one morning. Two hours later, the actor wrote back, “hey there how u doin.”
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November 2023: Kelsea Says There’s No Drama With Chase’s Ex
On Call Her Daddy, Ballerini revealed that she had no issues with her boyfriend continuing to work with his ex-girlfriend, Madelyn Cline, on the set of Outer Banks.
“I met her, and I talked to her, and she’s lovely,” she told host Alex Cooper at the time. “And I think she’s wildly talented. I think the internet did its best to make it weird, and it didn’t work for them. I’m stoked to be on set. At the end of the day, I’m a girl’s girl, I don’t buy into the bulls–t. I think they have a beautiful working relationship. I don’t feel insecure about my relationship, and I don’t feel insecure about myself.”
Also on the podcast, the musician revealed that she and Stokes had gotten matching Virgo tattoos, joking, “We can’t break up.”
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January 2024: 1 Year Down
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October 2024: Kelsea Says Chase ‘Supported’ Her Divorce EP
In an interview with NBC’s Sunday Today With Willie Geist, Ballerini recalled Stokes’ reaction to learning more about her divorce from Evans through the songs on her Rolling Up the Welcome Mat EP.
“I think the beautiful thing about being with an artist — in a different field, but an artist — is that also equates to being with a truth-teller,” she said of Stokes on the show. “When I got into this relationship, I hadn’t put out Welcome Mat to him. I remember I sent that EP to him, and I just said, ‘Hey, you’re going to ask eventually. So, I’m just going to go ahead and give this to you.’”
“He lifted that record up and supported it and stood side-stage the whole time,” she continued. “That takes someone who really celebrates truth-telling, and believes in the person that’s doing it.”
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January 2025: 2 Years Strong
On the two-year mark of their romance, Ballerini celebrated the occasion with a sweet post on Instagram.
“Two years of catching each other in countless cities, perfecting a chimichurri steak, and creating a world that revolves around dogs,” she wrote at the time, sharing a carousel of sweet photos with her beau. “love you so, teammate.”
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September 2025: Breakup
On Sept. 15, 2025, Billboard confirmed that Ballerini and Stokes had broken up after three years together. Just three days prior, the actor had shared a lovey-dovey birthday post in honor of his then-girlfriend, writing, “Although you keep saying you’re not excited for 32, id say I’m lookin forward to more of this. happy birthday my love.”
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November 2025: Chase Speaks Up, Says He’s ‘Blocked’
In the months immediately after their breakup, the status of Ballerini and Stokes’ relationship confused fans as rumors swirled that they’d gotten back together. Around that time (late November), the actor spoke up in the comment section of one of Ballerini’s TikToks, where viewers had reportedly been comparing the singer to Madelyn Cline.
“These comments are f–king weird,” he wrote at the time. “Grow up.”
A couple of days alter, Stokes further confused fans with a post on his Instagram Story. “Don’t believe the media,” he wrote on Nov. 20, 2025. “I’m blocked, I did nothing wrong. Sorry. I tried.”
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December 2025: Back Together!
Following the rumors about their reunion and Stokes’ contradicting social media commentary, the couple confirmed that, yes, they’d gotten back together with posts on their respective Instagrams.
“Something I’ve learned this year: don’t take advantage of the most beautiful things that in 33 years of life are fleeting,” the Outer Banks star captioned snaps of himself cuddling up to the singer. “Take accountability, learn from mistakes. Lean into love and say it often. 2026 my year of growth, my year of truth.”
In her post on Stories, Ballerini addressed the rekindling directly. “Messy year for the heart, messy year for the outside coming in, messy year for the way it became an out of our hands portrayal of it,” she wrote over a photo of herself and Stokes. “But what i’ll say, and all i really care to share indefinitely with my personal life anymore, is that i really love love. I believe in it, i believe in him, and i believe in breaking patterns.”
