Kelsea Ballerini’s boyfriend: Find out about her romance with Chase Stokes, her marriage to Morgan Evans, and more here.<\/b>
\nKelsea Ballerini\u2019s love life has taken a fresh turn. After publicly splitting from longtime boyfriend Chase Stokes in September 2025 following nearly three years together, the pair confirmed over New Year\u2019s Eve that they rekindled their romance. Both stars shared heartfelt messages on social media \u2014 Chase emphasizing personal growth and accountability, and Kelsea speaking openly about her belief in love and breaking patterns after a \u201cmessy year\u201d emotionally. However, just a month later, multiple outlets reported that they had broken up, and this time, it may have been for good.
The country music singer continues to focus on her music career while navigating life after her 2022 divorce from country singer Morgan Evans. Though she often lets her work speak for itself, she has shared candid reflections about love, heartbreak and resilience throughout this chapter.
Learn more about Kelsea\u2019s public relationships \u2014 including her reconciliation with Chase, her past marriage, and how both have influenced her life and music \u2014 below.
Fans began speculating that something was going on between Kelsea and Chase when they appeared in a group photo together at the National Championship football game in Jan. 2023. Days later, Chase took to Instagram to share a photo of Kelsea snuggling up to him in their seats at the game, adding further buzz to the romance rumors. Over the next few weeks, the two continued to fuel the speculation. First, they were spotted looking quite cozy at a bar in Nashville, and then, they were photographed packing on the PDA while at the airport.
Kelsea finally confirmed that she was in a new romance with Chase on the Feb. 22 episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast. When asked if she was single, she answered, \u201cNope! I\u2019m just vibing,\u201d before getting into more details about her connection to Chase. \u201cIt\u2019s all really new to me,\u201d she said about the romance. \u201cI\u2019m tiptoeing, but I\u2019m happy. It\u2019s been a really beautiful reawakening.\u201d
During the interview, Kelsea also delved further into the timeline of the relationship. She said it all started in Dec. 2022. \u201cI slid into his DMs,\u201d the country singer proudly added. \u201cI was just like\u2026I\u2019m not going to get on the apps. And he shoots [Outer Banks] in Charleston and my manager lives there. He put the bug in my ear. He\u2019s like, \u2018You know who\u2019s really cute when you\u2019re ready\u2026\u2019 and I\u2019m like, \u2018You\u2019re so right!\u2019 I\u2019ve never seen the show but I knew of him. I followed him, he followed me and I swan dove right in.\u201d
Her opening line has become a favorite amongst her fans. \u201cHis handle is @HiChaseStokes, so I said, \u2018Hi, Chase Stokes,\u2019\u201d she laughed. At the time, she said they were \u201cjust having fun,\u201d but it wasn\u2019t long before things started to get more serious. At the beginning of March, Kelsea was in New York City ahead of her appearance on Saturday Night Live, while Chase was in town to promote Outer Banks. The two had their first public date night at a New York Rangers game on March 2. They were also photographed holding hands while strolling around New York City, and Chase was backstage to support Kelsea amidst her Saturday Night Live debut.
As things started publicly heating up, some fans began wondering whether or not the relationship was the real deal, or just a publicity stunt. On March 7, Kelsea poked fun at the buzz on her Instagram Story. She shared a photo of herself sitting on Chase\u2019s lap, which she sarcastically captioned, \u201cIDK, seems staged. Probably PR.\u201d When Kelsea went on tour in March 2023, Chase was spotted attending several shows, where he proudly watched from the side stage as she performed. Then, he was by Kelsea\u2019s side at the CMT Awards on April 2, marking their official red carpet debut as a couple.
Chase is best known as an actor and has appeared in various features, including the Netflix series, Outer Banks, since 2020. After he was born in Annapolis, MD, he moved to Georgia and Florida, where he grew up as a teen. He went on to attend Valencia College, University of Central Florida, and Seminole State College, and originally wanted to be an ice hockey player before he dived into acting in 2014.
By the end of 2025, Chase and Kelsea had split, then reconciled by New Year\u2019s Eve. However, just a month later, several outlets reported they had split again.
Before Kelsea got romantically involved with Chase, she was married to singer Morgan for almost five years from 2017 until 2022. They met while co-hosting Australia\u2019s Country Music Channel Awards in Morgan\u2019s homeland in March of 2016. He proposed that Christmas, and they were married a year later in Mexico on Dec. 2, 2017. They often shared memorable moments of their life together on social media and seemed to be blissfully in love.
In 2017, Morgan dished to Hollywood Life exclusively about he and Kelsea were able to make their relationship work, despite being apart so often due to their careers. \u201cYou just gotta plan ahead, make sure there\u2019s something to look forward to \u2014 just a little pocket of time,\u201d he shared. \u201cAnd when you have that time, turn your phone off. Thankfully we both work with people who totally understand that if it doesn\u2019t work for us, nothing else matters. Yeah, it just takes a little more organizing!\u201d
By Aug. 2022, they had announced their split. \u201cThis is now public record so I wanted you to hear from me directly that I am going through a divorce,\u201d Kelsea wrote on Instagram at the time. \u201cThis deeply difficult decision is the result of a journey of love, growth and effort that has ultimately come to an end.\u201d Their divorce was finalized three months later, in Nov.
Some of Kelsea\u2019s songs on her Sept. 2022 album Subject To Change hinted at troubles in the relationship. Specifically, on the song \u201cDoin\u2019 My Best,\u201d she sang, \u201cTherapy for one, turned to therapy for two, when you get married that young, you got a lot of s*** you gotta get through.\u201d Kelsea was just 23 years old when she married Morgan, and he was 31. At the end of September, Morgan debuted his own song about the divorce called \u201cOver For You.\u201d In the lyrics, he hinted at being blindsided by the breakup, singing, \u201cHow long have you been breaking, why am I just finding out?\u201d
Kelsea directly responded to this song when she released her surprise EP Rolling Up The Welcome Mat in February 2023. In the album\u2019s opening song, \u201cMountain With A View,\u201d she sang, \u201cI think that this is when it\u2019s over for me,\u201d directly referencing the title track. The EP also featured a song called \u201cBlindsided,\u201d in which Kelsea sings, \u201cWere you blindsided or were you just blind?\u201d When Kelsea performed \u201cBlindsided\u201d on SNL, she added extra lyrics that further called out Morgan and referenced another lyric (\u201cI would\u2019ve searched the whole world over for you\u201d) from his song. \u201cNow you\u2019re singing your song on the radio, you wouldn\u2019t say it to my face, you would\u2019ve searched the whole world over? Yeah, sure, okay,\u201d she belted.
In another song from the EP called \u201cPenthouse,\u201d Kelsea sang about the house she and Morgan bought together during their marriage. In the lyrics, she insinuated that she was the one who paid for the house, but due to her prenup, he walked away with some of the profits. \u201cIt stings, rolling up the welcome mat, knowing you got half,\u201d Kelsea says on the song. However, the final song on the album, \u201cLeave Me Again,\u201d is her way of letting go of the feelings of hurt, and letting Morgan know that she hopes he finds his happiness.
During her February 2023 interview with the Call Her Daddy podcast, Kelsea spoke out about her divorce from Morgan and delved further into why they split. Despite the two initially putting a lot of effort into seeing each other whenever possible, Kelsea said that they spent so much time apart, which was one of the main reasons for the breakup. She also accused Morgan of not making an effort to come and see her when their schedules allowed. However, the breaking point was when Kelsea realized that she wasn\u2019t ready to have kids yet, which was something the two were not on the same page about.
\u201cI took him to dinner and I was like, \u2018For my 30th birthday, I want to freeze my eggs’,\u201d Kelsea shared. \u201cThat was not a good day. I think that was when I was like.there\u2019s a fundamental difference here that has happened and that has shifted. It was no longer, \u2018I don\u2019t see this person, I miss this person, I\u2019m alone and lonely.\u2019 It was \u2026he wants something out of life and I\u2019m not there.\u201d At that point, though, Kelsea said that she and Morgan were already having issues, and had been in couples\u2019 therapy since \u201ca year or two\u201d after their wedding. \u201cI think he loved me more at 23, and I love me more at 29,\u201d she admitted.
Kelsea also discussed how she felt when Morgan released \u201cOver For You\u201d and why that upset her so much. \u201cAs he\u2019s putting out a song about being blindsided, he\u2019s taking half of the house he didn\u2019t pay for,\u201d she said. \u201cHow was I married to this person for so long and had no idea that that bit of character was tucked within that human being?\u201d She also said she didn\u2019t like the timing of the song\u2019s release, as the divorce filing was still fresh and not finalized yet.
It didn\u2019t take long for Morgan to respond to her thoughts with his own Instagram post. He called her comments \u201csad\u201d and not \u201creality\u201d, and asked people to not be \u201cmean\u201d to either of them. \u201cIt\u2019s really sad for me to see this person, who I spent so much of my life with, and loved with all my heart, saying things that aren\u2019t reality and that leave out what really happened,\u201d Morgan wrote in his post. \u201cShe knows I\u2019m not the type of guy to speak on those things publicly.\u201d \u201cIf this is what she needs to heal, I hope it helps,\u201d he added. \u201cAll I ask is if that you\u2019re on my pages, please don\u2019t be mean. Don\u2019t be mean to Kelsea, don\u2019t be mean to each other. Life\u2019s too short.\u201d
Before becoming a staple in country music, Kelsea had another serious ex-boyfriend, who she sings about on many of her songs from her first two albums, The First Time and Unapologetically. During the Call Her Daddy interview, Kelsea admitted that she had only had sex with one other person before Morgan, and it was a \u201cnegative\u201d experience for her. \u201cIt was in a relationship, but it was not healthy at all,\u201d Kelsea admitted. \u201cAnd so the way that I defined sex was very one-sided, very for the man, not a sense of connection at all.\u201d
Kelsea\u2019s 2017 album Unapologetically tells the story of going from a breakup to new love during the time when she ended her past relationship and got together with Morgan. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of self discovery and awareness that you got through,\u201d Kelsea told Hollywood Life exclusively in 2017. \u201cI feel like this whole record is having a big breakup and getting past that, learning a lot about myself, growing up a bit and then meeting my now-fiancee [Morgan] and that whole transition into falling on my face for someone. It really does sum up what I\u2019ve been through.
The first half of the album is about the heartbreak she faced. Perhaps the most heartbreaking track of all is the first one, \u201cGraveyard,\u201d in which Kelsea sings, \u201cI don\u2019t want to be another heart in your graveyard, in the cold hart dirt that you throw down, I don\u2019t wanna watch you drive away in a black car, to a new bar, so you can find another hopeless, broken girl in a little black dress, and you can take her, break her, lay her heart to rest in peace, right here next to me.\u201d
While Kelsea has never publicly named the ex in question, she has admitted to being thankful for that bad breakup, as well as others before that. \u201cI think breakups are good, I really do,\u201d Kelsea admitted to StyleCaster in 2017. \u201cThey\u2019re hard and I think that makes you find yourself again. When you get past one and rediscover yourself, that\u2019s probably the whole purpose of the relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tMorgan Evans & Kelsea Ballerini: Photos Of The Exes<\/p>\n