Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes‘ nearly three-year relationship came to a rocky end, a source close to the former couple exclusively tells Us Weekly.
“It was a hard split,” the insider shares. “They had been arguing a lot recently, and their communication wasn’t great in the last month. They were both traveling so much and trying to juggle everything, and the arguments piled up.”
Ballerini, 32, “initiated the conversation,” according to the source, but she and Stokes, 33, acted like “mature adults and had the same understanding that they needed space.”
“There is still a lot of love between them,” the insider tells Us, noting that Ballerini and Stokes are both “extremely busy right now” and, prior to calling it quits, “were trying to make it work.”
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Ballerini’s rep confirmed to Us on September 14 that the country singer and Stokes had broken up — only two days after the Outer Banks star posted a gushing tribute to his “love” via Instagram for her birthday.
Stokes was the first person Ballerini dated since her 2022 divorce from fellow musician Morgan Evans.
“Although it’s been a few years, Kelsea is still coming out of a divorce and figuring out what she really wants, and she’s not in a place where she’s going to just settle,” the source tells Us. “Chase understood that, but in the end, they realized they weren’t aligning the way they hoped.”
Us Weekly has reached out to reps for Ballerini and Stokes for comment.
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The now-exes went public with their relationship in January 2023, one month after Ballerini admittedly slid into Stokes’ Instagram DMs.
“I was ready to open back up,” she explained on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast in February 2023. “I just felt, why not? I’ve never really dated; I don’t know how it works. I’m like, let’s just put ourselves out there. Let’s just vibe. And it’s been fun.”
Ballerini shared at the time that she had “never seen” Stokes’ Netflix show, which notably stars his ex-girlfriend Madelyn Cline. However, the Grammy nominee “knew of” the actor, so she “just swan dove” into his messages.
The pair immediately hit it off, making their red carpet debut in April 2023 at the CMT Music Awards. One year later, they moved in together, which inspired the song “Baggage” on Ballerini’s most recent album, Patterns.
“We both slept on a mattress with ‘I love you’ people / And s***, I even took it all the way to the steeple,” the lyrics read. “So, boy, I know the weight and gravity / Of keychains with same keys / But if you want that welcome mat, then roll it out with me / Clear out a drawer, clear out a shelf / I wouldn’t wanna do it with anybody else.”
