On Thursday, February 23, Outer Banks star Chase Stokes posted a pic of himself and singer Kelsea Ballerini to his Instagram Story of her giving him a kiss on the cheek. The pair were rumored to be dating and have recently begun to verify there is a romance between them. Within the photo, Stokes was smiling together with his eyes closed and cuddling Ballerini.
Each Stokes and Ballerini are relatively recently out of relationships. In November of 2022, Ballerini reached a settlement in her divorce from ex-husband Morgan Evans. They married in 2017.
Stokes was most recently linked to co-star Madelyn Cline, who he dated for a couple of yr and a half, confirming their break up in November of 2021. They still needed to shoot the third season of Outer Banks together and appear to have remained friendly.
âMads and I actually have been working together now for 30 episodes, and we made a promise to one another before we even began dating that the work was all the time going to come back first,â Stokes told Entertainment Weekly. âAnd that regardless of what happens in our personal lives, and the ways in which life sometimes takes you in numerous directions, that we’re all the time going to honor the work. That stayed one hundred pc truthful this season.â
Here’s the definitive timeline of Stokes and Ballerini’s relationship to this point.
January 2023
Stokes posted a pic with Ballerini looking suspiciously cuddly while watching the faculty football national championship game at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, where they Georgia played TCU. It was snuck right into a carousel of January pics captioned, âLil recap.â
Around the identical time, the country artist shared her own collection of pics, captioned, âLatest boot goofin.â In a single image, she’s wearing a baseball cap repping her hometown Knoxville, Tennessee, and Stokes commented, âI like dat hat maâam.â
They were spotted in a bar together in Nashville later that month, but a source told US Weekly on the time that weren’t officially dating.
âChase and Kelsea have been flirting forwards and backwards since meeting through friends on the College Football National Championship Game in L.A., but theyâre not together,â the insider said. âThey each think the opposite may be very attractive, so that you never know [what could happen].â
February 2023
Ballerini made an appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast, sharing that she is âhaving funâ after her divorce and admitted that she slid in Stokes’ DMs. She told host Alex Cooper, âI used to be able to open back up…I just felt, why not? I’ve never really dated; I do not know the way it really works. I’m like, âLet’s just put ourselves on the market; let’s just vibe.â And it has been fun.â
Her Instagram move was partially motivated by the very fact she is not âgoing to get on an app.â They followed each other and began chatting.
âI’ve never seen his show, but I just knew of him, and I just swan dove right on in,â Ballerini said, then shared her first message. âHis handle is â@hichasestokes,â and I said, ‘Hi, Chase Stokes.ââ
Stokes told Folks that same month that he and Ballerini âhave just been spending a while together.â
âKelsea is a beautiful, lovely girl,â he said. âShe’s great. We’re having an excellent time.â
After it was announced that the singer can be the musical guest on Saturday Night Continue to exist March 4, Stokes said to Extra, âShe’s an incredible human being… I like her to death. It is a huge moment for her. So, I’m just very, very pleased with her.â
In late February, Bellerini shared an image of her and Stokes hand (presumably) holding seashells on the beach, writing her camera roll has been âcuteâ recently. He reshared it in his own Instagram Stories.
Aimée Lutkin is the weekend editor at ELLE.com. Her writing has appeared in Jezebel, Glamour, Marie Claire and more. Her first book, The Lonely Hunter, will probably be released by Dial Press in February 2022.
