Get ready for the next big breakup album. Country star Kelsea Ballerini and Outer Banks actor Chase Stokes have split after nearly three years, Ballerini’s rep confirmed to People on September 14. Sneakily announced right before the Emmy Awards started on Sunday night, the news came as a shock considering Stokes had just posted an Instagram photo dump celebrating Ballerini’s birthday two days prior on September 12. “Although you keep saying you’re not excited for 32, id say I’m lookin forward to more of this,” Stokes wrote in the caption. “Happy birthday my love.” The loving caption gets even more interesting considering that Stokes’s birthday is September 16. Here’s everything we know so far about the Virgo exes.
When did Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes start dating?
Way back in January 2023. The two first sparked rumors when they attended a college-football game together on January 9. Ballerini confirmed their relationship while on a February 22 Call Her Daddy podcast episode, revealing they met after she slid into his DMs. “I’ve never seen his show, but I just knew of him, and I just swan-dove right on in,” Ballerini said. As her opener, Ballerini recalled, “His handle is ‘@hichasestokes,’ and I said, ‘Hi, Chase Stokes.’” Throughout their time dating, the couple posted often on social media together, and fans speculate that her 2024 album, Patterns, is about their relationship and the baggage that came with it. “It’s been such a beautiful journey to figure out how to be in a relationship with someone who’s truly a mirror of you,” Ballerini said of Stokes ahead of the album release. “It’s taken a lot of really intentional work, and you hear that throughout this new album.”
Wait, what’s their baggage?
Ballerini entered into the relationship just two months after her divorce from Australian country-music star Morgan Evans was finalized in November 2022. Ballerini dropped a divorce EP titled Rolling Up the Welcome Mat on Valentine’s Day 2023 shortly after she started dating Stokes. “I wonder what we’ll both say / When we see each other ’round town” she sings on “Interlude.” “We said we’d handle this the right way / I guess we’ve done each other wrong now / I hope you sleep better at night now that you got an army / Of people that believe I’m the word that you used to call me.” If you’re still on line to listen to music that reveals the intricacies of Kelsea Ballerini’s latest breakup, stay on line.
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Stokes was in his own high-profile (if you’re Gen Z or work at Netflix) relationship and breakup when he dated his Outer Banks co-star Madelyn Cline from June 2020 to October 2021. Their relationship seemingly did not end amicably after fans speculated that Stokes cheated on Cline. One woman at the center of the cheating allegation denied he was with Cline in a now-deleted TikTok.
No one’s rooting for a cheating scandal, but we are just going to remind everyone that Carrie Underwood’s best song (to sing at karaoke) is “Before He Cheats.”
Do we know why Stokes and Ballerini broke up?
“It happens” is apparently supposed to be enough of an explanation for the surprise split. That’s what sources told People. “They’re two adults who gave it their all and tried to do everything they could to make it work, but ultimately couldn’t,” they added.
This story will be updated on September 16 if Ballerini goes rogue and posts a birthday shout-out to Stokes.
