She recalls how she knew he was the one "as soon as [she] met him."

Kelsea Ballerini is opening up about her relationship with <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/film-tv/outer-banks-season-3-netflix-details-trailer-cast-madelyn-cline-chase-stokes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chase Stokes</a>. In a recent cover <a href="https://www.nylon.com/entertainment/kelsea-ballerini-2023-it-girl-country-music-finding-love" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview with Nylon</a>, the singer gives rare insight into their romance, stating how she "really did [know] as soon as I met him" that he was the one for her.
She first sets the scene for they how met, revealing that slid into his Instagram DM's, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CxQd_rJMWJk/?img_index=10" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="T3D">which she posted on main</a> last month to celebrate Stokes&rsquo; 31st birthday.
&ldquo;I was at a bar in Nashville with some friends from Charleston [where <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/film-tv/outer-banks-season-4-netflix-details-release-date-cast-trailer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Outer Banks</a> films], and they were like, &lsquo;What about Chase?&rsquo;&rdquo; she said. She then followed him on Instagram and he followed her back. &ldquo;I was just like, &lsquo;Why am I waiting for this guy to reach out to me? This is 2022,'&rdquo; she said.
The message she sent read, "hiii chase stokes," in which she laughed reflecting back at stating, "Listen, I was living my best life. I have no shame in that game."

Photo via Getty Images.

She recalled how they planned to have their first date a few weeks after their initial DM exchange, where she planned to meet him on day two of a three-day trip in <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/celine-fall-winter-2023-collection-every-looks-photos-los-angeles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Los Angeles</a>: "Day one I was playing a birthday party for a friend of mine, but I got there and was like, &lsquo;It&rsquo;s kind of crazy that we&rsquo;re finally in the same town and I&rsquo;m not seeing you today,&rsquo;&rdquo; she said. "He was like, &lsquo;Drop your pin.&rsquo; He just showed up at this party and yeah, it was great."
"I really did [know] as soon as I met him," she continued. "And maybe that sounds like I&rsquo;ve learned zero things, but I&rsquo;ve always been a heart-first girl, and the truth is it&rsquo;s never led me astray. I&rsquo;ve always been where I needed to be while I needed to be there."
Since then, they've remained one of <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/pop-culture/new-celebrity-couples-2023-dating-relationships" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hollywood's cutest couples</a>, walking numerous <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/no-underwear-celebrities-red-carpet-looks-bella-hadid" target="_blank" rel="noopener">red carpets</a> together and posting selfies on social media.
"We are both very much so golden-retriever energy most of the time, but we both have a little bite in us, and we&rsquo;re both incredibly driven," she said. "He is the first person I&rsquo;ve been in a relationship with that I feel like is not my complete opposite."
Her love story with Stokes comes after a gruesome divorce from ex-husband Morgan Evans, whom she was married to from 2017 to 2022. She looks back at this time last year, and how her life "felt very out of control."
"A bit messy. I just felt in the weeds in a lot of things," she said. However, she followed up with how she "regrets nothing."

In her <a href="https://www.nylon.com/entertainment/kelsea-ballerini-2023-it-girl-country-music-finding-love" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview with Nylon</a>, she speaks further on her <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/pop-culture/sofia-vergara-divorce-why-joe-manganiello" target="_blank" rel="noopener">divorce</a>, stating how it became such a spectacle even though that was never her intention. She highlighted how her divorce was &ldquo;making a lot of conservative Karens very upset," with random women making comments on social media that she "gave up on being a good wife."
&ldquo;I have spent so much of my life contorting myself to be palatable for everyone. I thought that made me a good woman. I thought that made me a good artist. However, it does not make me a good person,&rdquo; Ballerini said. &ldquo;I care way more about being able to sleep at night knowing that I&rsquo;m showing up for myself and what I believe in and the things that make my heart beat. And I&rsquo;m not meant for everyone. The people-pleaser in me still has a really hard time when there&rsquo;s very loud hate coming out of things. But I&rsquo;m sleeping better than I ever have.&rdquo;
That said, she noted how she's focused on looking forward, as she recently bought her dream home in Nashville last year, has a sold-out show in Knoxville to perform at, and is heading to a three-day therapy retreat for a "pulse check."

Kelsea Ballerini Shares Insight Into Relationship With Chase Stokes

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