Yahoo Finance Chase Stokes Says He's 'Having a Good Time' with Kelsea Ballerini amid Romance Rumors
Jon Kopaloff/WireImage, Taylor Hill/FilmMagic Chase Stokes and Kelsea Ballerini
Chase Stokes is breaking his silence about Kelsea Ballerini.
On Wednesday, the Outer Banks star addressed the romance rumors with Ballerini — which were sparked earlier this month — during an interview with TMZ.
"She's a sweet girl," Stokes, 30, told the outlet. "We're having a good time and that's all I'll say."
Last week, the "HEARTFIRST" singer, 29, and the actor were spotted getting cozy at the Georgia vs. TCU game at Sofi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
Fans initially took note of an Instagram post from Raising Cane's founder Todd Graves featuring a group of musicians, actors and influencers he hosted in his suite for the playoff game, which Georgia won 65-7.
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In the photo Graves posted, the pair was seen snuggling in close on the far right. Ballerini was pictured leaning into Stokes with her left arm on top of his.
Then, later that week, Stokes shared a carousel of photos with one in particular drawing attention. Captioned "lil recap," the image shows a blonde girl tagged as Ballerini leaning her head into his chest as they look over the football field. In a nod to her own hometown team, the country star commented, "go vols 🙈" on the post.
Stokes was most recently linked with actress and model Madelyn Cline, 25. The two met on the set of their Netflix hit show in 2019 and made their relationship Instagram official a year later.
The couple reportedly split in November 2021 before reconciling and then splitting again just a month later. The pair deleted most of their photos of each other on their Instagrams and Cline was seen out with DJ Zack Bia just days before her 24th birthday, though Bia later claimed that they weren't dating.
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As for Ballerini, she announced her split from husband Morgan Evans, 37, in August after nearly five years of marriage. On Instagram, she wrote, "This deeply difficult decision is the result of a journey of love, growth, and effort that ultimately has come to an end."
Their divorce was finalized in November, the very same day that she was nominated for a Grammy award. A month later she opened up on the iHeart podcast Tell Me About It with Jade Iovine about the reasons she felt compelled to end her marriage after nearly five years.
"For a while, it was kind of like, 'OK, this is just a new phase of a relationship,' because relationships go through seasons, right? And it's not always going to be butterflies and rainbows," she said. "For a long time, I was like, 'Oh this is just… The glitter wears off. That's what happens.' And then you get into a phase where you wait for it to come back. And then sometimes it doesn't."
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"At the end of the day, it is such a disservice and a dishonoring of yourself if you know something is not right and you stay," she added. "[Shame] is the one thing that I just refuse to feel… Judge me for it, fine, that's on you."
But Ballerini is over the internet gossip. On Monday, the country star said in a TikTok that she should "stop reading [and] stop looking" at what's being said about her.
She spoke in the video over a screenshot from the celebrity gossip account DeuxMoi that featured anonymous tips about Ballerini and Stokes, plus the manager of Soho House Nashville.
"But what is happening you guys? What? What? No. Let's not do this, you know?" she said before sighing.
She captioned the post: "I'm about to break up with the internet 5 sure 😂"
