After three years of dating, Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes have broken up, People reported on Sunday. While no specific reason for the split was given, sources close to the couple told the magazine that the country singer and Outer Banks star, both 32, are “two adults who gave it their all and tried to do everything they could to make it work, but ultimately couldn’t,” noting “it happens.”
Fans, however, are taking the split pretty hard. One person commented on People’s post about the news, “What?? I was expecting an engagement announcement !!!” Another added, “I’m heartbroken over this.” And plenty more refused to believe the news until they heard it directly from the couple themselves. (While neither has addressed the breakup on social media, Ballerini’s rep confirmed the breakup to People.)
Of course, it’s no surprise that the duo is sparking an emotional reaction, given how public the two were — and how their story was all about finding love after heartbreak. Here’s a rundown of the Stokes-Ballerini romance.
How Chase Stokes and Kelsea Ballerini met
Though Stokes and Ballerini are both in the entertainment industry, they actually met over Instagram in December 2022. By January 2023, the two were already spotted at the 2023 College Football Playoff National Championship in Los Angeles, where Stokes posted a pic of the pair looking cozy on Instagram.
In a February 2023 episode of Call Her Daddy, Ballerini confirmed her relationship with Stokes, whom she said she connected with after her manager suggested she pursue him. Ballerini said she slid right into his DMs with the words “Hi Chase Stokes” after the two began following one. She said she had not yet watched his Netflix hit Outer Banks — she just thought he was cute.
Prior to connecting with Stokes, Ballerini had recently split from her husband, country music singer Morgan Evans. The two finalized their divorce in November 2022.
“I was ready to open back up,” Ballerini explained to host Alex Cooper. “I just felt, why not? I’ve never really dated; I don’t know how it works. I’m like, ‘Let’s just put ourselves out there; let’s just vibe.’ And it’s been fun.”
A public romance
Following the Call Her Daddy interview, Stokes and Ballerini weren’t shy about showing off their budding romance. In addition to regularly posting about each other on social media, Stokes complimented girlfriend Ballerini’s music during his appearance on Today. He was also seen walking hand-in-hand in New York City with Ballerini during the week of her Saturday Night Live performance. At the same time, the two regularly shared updates on their life together via social media posts.
But the two made their official red carpet debut at the CMT Awards in April, which Ballerini cohosted alongside Kane Brown. The two stayed extra close as photographers snapped their photos.
Chase Stokes and Kelsea Ballerini at the 2025 Academy of Country Music Awards. (Taylor Hill/WireImage via Getty Images)
In a July 2023 interview with Stylecaster, Ballerini explained why she’s comfortable sharing her relationship with the public. “The thing that we’ve decided, and to each their own, is when you’re with someone that you feel secure with and that you’re proud to be with, why not share it?” she said.
She also said that both she and Stokes are “Labrador retrievers in human form.”
“It doesn’t take much conversation to be on the same page,” she said. “It’s been half a year, and it’s been great.”
Ballerini also wound back the clock in August 2023, sharing on TikTok a video that she sent her best friend prior to her first date with Stokes. “I can do this. It’s just a date,” a clearly nervous Ballerini said in the video. “You just go and you eat food and you talk about things that you do.”
The couple also walked the red carpet together at the MTV Video Music Awards in September of that year, which happened to coincide with Ballerini’s 30th birthday on Sept. 12. In the caption of a photo dump on Instagram, Stokes wrote, “dirty 30 looks pretty damn good on you ballerini. i love you.”
And just four days later, Ballerini did the same thing for Stokes’s birthday on Sept. 16, writing, “happy birthday my sweet virgo” in the caption on her Instagram carousel.
Ballerini writes love songs for Stokes
Love songs about her relationship with Stokes appeared on Ballerini’s fifth studio album, Patterns, which dropped in October 2024.
“He heard [the album] as it was happening,” Ballerini told Teen Vogue during a Patterns listening party. “This is the first time that I’ve gotten to make a record where he’s been a part of the whole process. He would be FaceTiming into the studio with the musicians. It was really fun to bring him alongside for the whole process and be [not only] such a beautiful part of the life of this record but of the process too.
Those songs include “First Rodeo,” which Ballerini told Today was the “first love song” she wrote for her boyfriend. “Really, it’s essentially the first song where it’s kind of like, ‘OK, I feel a little fragile, I feel a little scared to open myself up to the capacity that I want to, but I love love, and I really love you,’” she said. Stokes also appeared in the music video.
In November 2023, Ballerini returned to Call Her Daddy, where she updated Cooper on her love life.
“He’s the most emotionally intelligent man I’ve ever met in my life,” the singer gushed. “I keep telling him he’s a man written by a woman.”
The couple grow closer
Ballerini kicked off 2024 with an anniversary Instagram post celebrating her yearlong romance with Stokes, which included photos of the couple. She captioned the pics, “A whole trip around the sun with my bestie. @hichasestokes thanks for making me write love songs.”
Chase Stokes and Kelsea Ballerini at the 2025 Grammy Awards. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
Stokes responded with his own Instagram post, which he captioned “One year of lovin you. p.s. told ya I wouldn’t embarrass you.”
The next year was full of firsts for the couple, including walking the carpet as a couple at the Met Gala in May. In October, Ballerini said in an interview with People that the two officially moved in together.
And on Thanksgiving, Ballerini shared photos on Instagram of herself and Stokes helping to cook her family dinner.
Ballerini talks about how relationships take work
In an April 2025 interview with People, the five-time Grammy nominee said she and Stokes are not shy about tackling any issues they have.
“Now my version of love that I’ve found, it’s steady and it’s human, and we work on it,” she said at the time. “That to me, honestly, is the sexiest thing, like, ‘Hey, you want to go to therapy? Let’s go to therapy.’ Being so down with your person to put in the work for each other and individually, it’s a very new kind of love for me.”
She also said therapy helped the couple “show each other the things that we want to get better at.”
Chase Stokes and Kelsea Ballerini with Jelly Roll. (John Shearer/Getty Images for ACM)
“Chase and I were like, ‘What are our goals for the year?’ And we said we want to be hotter, funnier and more ambitious … the best version of ourselves,” Ballerini said.
Ballerini also told Us Weekly in July 2025 that it’s important for couples to challenge each other — “or it’s boring and then you’re stagnant and then that’s not going to work out,” she explained.
“I think we’re two and a half years in, so [the relationship] looks a lot different now than it did in the beginning,” she said.
Breakup rumors surface
But in August 2025, fans started speculating that there might be trouble in Ballerini and Stokes’s relationship when she seemingly deleted a July Fourth photo dump that included pics of her then boyfriend. However, fans believed all was well in August, when the Uglies star shared an Instagram story featuring Ballerini’s dog.
On Sept. 12, fans breathed a sigh of relief when Stokes posted a series of photos on Instagram honoring Ballerini’s birthday with the caption, “although you keep saying you’re not excited for 32, id say I’m lookin forward to more of this. happy birthday my love.” Ballerini did not comment on the post.
