Weird Things About Kelsea Ballerini And Chase Stokes' Relationship

Jc Olivera/Getty Images

Country star Kelsea Ballerini should have plenty of new material to sing about now that she's found herself in a very public romance with "Outer Banks" star Chase Stokes. The two have been an item since they each left previous relationships, with Ballerini getting out of a five-year marriage with Australian country singer Morgan Evans and Stokes breaking it off with fellow "Outer Banks" co-star Madelyn Cline. The two have shown plenty of PDA, and when Ballerini was asked if the flurry of photographs with her and Stokes might put additional strain on their severed relationship and hurt her ex-husband's feelings, the "Miss Me More" singer said on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast, "No, because I'm not married to him anymore and I don't need to care about his feelings anymore."

Stokes has also taken up the call to put their love on full display, as he recently appeared in the music video for Ballerini's song "First Rodeo," which she said was, in fact, about how the two met. Stokes told Entertainment Tonight that there was nothing weird about acting with his new boo, calling it a "no brainer" and saying, "It was like a really, really beautiful, vulnerable way of saying, like, 'I wrote this song kind of about our story, and I don't want to have anybody else do it. So will you?'" But with both stars moving so quickly beyond their old love affairs and diving headfirst into new ones, we couldn't help but notice some weird things about their relationship.

Emma Mcintyre/Getty Images

Maybe everything really is easier when you're a celebrity because Kelsea Ballerini pulled off the impossible when she snagged a date with the Netflix hunk by sliding into his DMs. After the two started following each other on Instagram, Ballerini reeled in "Outer Banks" star Chase Stokes by getting straight to the point: "Hi, Chase Stokes." Ballerini explained to Alexandra Cooper during her "Call Her Daddy" appearance that the idea was originally put into her head by her manager, who lives in Charleston, South Carolina, where "Outer Banks" is shot. But besides the obvious good looks of Stokes, Ballerini admitted to not knowing too much else about him, saying, "I've never seen his show, but I just knew of him, and I just swan dove right on in."

Apparently, Stokes took the bait and ran with it, taking the baton from Ballerini and deciding that he would be the one to take their relationship public in January 2023 when he got the Internet curious after posting a photo on Instagram of the two together at a football game. The two have now been together for two years, though their one-of-a-kind success shouldn't necessarily serve as an encouragement to fish for dates in a stranger's DMs.

Kevin Mazur/2021 Mtv Movie And Tv Awards/Getty Images

Kelsea Ballerini is apparently not the jealous type. Ballerini began dating Chase Stokes after he broke up with Madelyn Cline — who happens to play his on-screen love interest in "Outer Banks." And despite Stokes and Cline oftentimes getting hot and heavy on our television screens, all parties involved have agreed that the smooching is strictly business. When Stokes spoke to InStyle, it was noted that he "has nothing but respect for [Cline], and the two have made a commitment to keep things professional on set." When Stokes, Ballerini, and Cline all appeared at the 2023 Video Music Awards — the three kept it drama-free.

Ballerini has said that she's a fan of the show (more on that below), and as a fellow artist herself, she may know a thing or two about giving fans what they want. He went on to underline his commitment to the work — perhaps alluding to one door closing with Cline and another opening with Ballerini — as he told the outlet, "Although things change and life takes different shapes and forms, one thing that's always stood true for her and I is that the show is our first love."

Terry Wyatt/Getty Images

Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes clearly have a firm grasp on their work-life balance because Kelsea clearly has not binge-watched her boyfriend's work on "Outer Banks." When Ballerini tried to run the gamut of a TikTok selfie filter that required her to rank "Outer Banks" characters, it became quite clear that she did not know all of the characters. That led someone to ask the obvious question of whether she even watched the show, to which Ballerini alluded to being a fan but not a completionist, saying, "Because he and i have a deal! But i've seen so much of this season and it's badass. NO FURTHER QUESTIONS YOUR HONOR" (via E! News). The response implied that Ballerini is behind on past episodes, but it seems she's tuned in to Season 4.

While she might not reach stan-levels of knowledge regarding the greater "Outer Banks" extended universe, when Stokes' character, John B, appeared, Ballerini was quick to rank him in the number one spot. She made up for not watching every single episode by complimenting the image of Stokes in character, saying, "The bandana, the face, the him. We stan."

Miikka Skaffari/Getty Images

When Kelsea Ballerini made an appearance on "The Tonight Show" with Jimmy Fallon, she told a strangely prophetic story about Chase Stokes that made us swoon. It all began when the two unknowingly found themselves on the same flight at five in the morning. Seated a few rows in front of Stokes, Ballerini recalls a young fan approaching him. Ballerini said, "I was getting ready to fall asleep, and there was this young girl who came up to the person sitting behind me and was just, like, freaking out, like fangirling. And I heard him be so lovely to her and give her so much time and attention and intention at, like, 5 a.m."

The act of kindness stuck with her as she went on to tell Fallon, "I hadn't seen ["Outer Banks"], but I don't live under the rock, so I knew him. And we were obviously in very different phases of life. ... We never met, never said 'hello,' but I just tucked that away as like, 'Wow, what a good thing to witness.'" It was a lasting enough memory for her to go ahead and slide into his DMs, where Stokes again showed his generosity towards speaking to (sort of) strangers.

Mike Coppola/Getty Images

Despite Kelsea Ballerini's initial lack of "Outer Banks" knowledge, now that she's seemingly catching up on the show, she still appears hesitant to step in front of the camera. When E! News asked if she would be open to a cameo on the show, Ballerini said, "You know what, his space is his space and mine is mine. And being able to show up and support each other just as partners is so beautiful." Her diplomatic response may owe a lot of its reticence to the fact that filming a cameo would involve her appearing on set next to Stokes' ex-girlfriend, Madelyn Cline. And while the Internet would surely lose their minds at the crossover, good luck to the show's writers on making that scene go down smoothly.

However, fans should not lose hope as Ballerini gave a simple answer when asked if we could expect a Stokes feature on a song of hers at some point in the future, saying, "Never say never, I guess." And while Stokes has contributed his face to Ballerini's music video, the maybe-yes, maybe-no answer about hearing him sing was followed by Ballerini telling the outlet that his support does go beyond appearing in front of the camera, saying of her touring schedule, "He was at rehearsals. It was his first time at the Opry, which was very fun to show him around my home away from home." And if there's one thing not weird about country music, it's singing about your boyfriend, with extra points earned if there's a duet.