Chase Stokes and Kelsea Ballerini haven\u2019t been shy about their relationship. The couple, who first soft-launched their romance in January, have been proudly and publicly going strong ever since. From Instagram DMs to concerts to award shows, they\u2019ve had quite the modern love story.<\/p>\n
Their romance began in December 2022, a month after Ballerini finalized her divorce<\/a> and two years after Stokes split from Outer Banks<\/em> co-star Madelyn Cline<\/a>. A month later, they went Instagram-official, and by February 2023, they confirmed their \u2018ship when Ballerini dished on her divorce and burgeoning relationship on Call Her Daddy<\/em>.<\/p>\n There\u2019s been a sea of red carpet appearances, cute PDA moments, and sweet quotes since then. Here are all the highlights of Stokes and Ballerini\u2019s relationship timeline so far, including details (ahem, timestamps) of their first-ever conversation.<\/p>\n It all started with a DM. On Sept. 15, 2023, Ballerini shared her first message to Stokes<\/a> in honor of his birthday. On Dec. 1, 2022 at 1:07 a.m., she sent him, “hiii chase stokes.” At 3:17 a.m., she got his response: “Hey there how u doin.” Ballerini answered him the next day, “i’m kels, nice to meet you \ud83d\ude0a.\u201d Stokes liked the message, and the rest is history.<\/p>\n Stokes went public with Ballerini on Jan. 13. He posted an Instagram<\/a> carousel, featuring a photo of the singer and him cuddled up at the Georgia versus TCU game. \u201clil recap,\u201d he captioned the post.<\/p>\n The IG was proof that Ballerini and Stokes were connected, but it didn\u2019t confirm if they were officially dating. For the first month, they kept their sitch vague. On Jan. 18, when Stokes was stopped by TMZ, he told the outlet about Ballerini<\/a>. \u201cShe\u2019s a sweet girl<\/a>. We\u2019re having a good time and that\u2019s all I\u2019ll say,\u201d he said at the time.<\/p>\n Ballerini confirmed the relationship<\/a> in a Feb. 22 interview with Call Her Daddy<\/em>\u2019s Alex Cooper. \u201cI\u2019ve never seen the show, but I just knew of him. And so I followed him, and he followed me, and I just swan-dove right on in,\u201d she explained about sending the first DM<\/a>.<\/p>\n The next day, on Feb. 23, Stokes posted an IG Story of them together, with Ballerini kissing his cheek. \u201cimy\u2764\ufe0f,\u201d he wrote alongside the post.<\/p>\n Earlier in February, Stokes spoke about working with Cline<\/a>, his ex, on Season 3 of Outer Banks<\/em>. \u201cMads and I have been working together now for 30 episodes, and we made a promise to each other before we even started dating that the work was always going to come first<\/a>,\u201d he told Entertainment Weekly<\/em> on Feb. 3. \u201cAnd that no matter what happens in our personal lives, and the ways that life sometimes takes you in different directions, that we\u2019re always going to honor the work. That stayed 100 percent truthful this season.\u201d<\/p>\n In March, Stokes started getting noticed at Ballerini\u2019s performances<\/a>. On March 4, he watched her sing on Saturday Night Live<\/em>, congratulating her afterwards on IG. \u201cQUEEN sh*t<\/a>,\u201d he wrote, per Taste of Country<\/em>. \u201c@kelseaballerini you did the f*cking damn thing.\u201d He also posted a photo of her SNL<\/em> dressing room<\/a>, writing \u201cProud of you, my love.\u201d<\/p>\n Fans on TikTok also started posting videos of Stokes<\/a> singing and dancing at Ballerini\u2019s concerts. \u201cfind someone who looks at you like Chase looks at Kelsea,\u201d one fan captioned their video<\/a>.<\/p>\n Stokes has spoked openly about being a big fan of his GF\u2019s work. He actually confirmed their relationship<\/a> on a March 3 episode of Today<\/em>. \u201cAbsolutely, I\u2019m a fan. Yeah, who isn\u2019t a fan?\u201d Stokes said of Ballerini, before saying, \u201cMmm hmm,\u201d when the the host pointed out they were dating<\/a>.<\/p>\n On April 2, Stokes and Ballerini made their relationship red carpet official<\/a> at the 2023 CMT Awards in Austin, Texas. “I have a really hot date tonight<\/a>,\u201d Ballerini told red carpet host Cody Alan, per ABC. \u201cI’m really, really happy \u2026 this is our first outing, so I’m like, \u2018Come on into my world and then bring me into Charleston [where Outer Banks<\/em> films] and I’ll be in yours, it’ll be fun.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Ballerini and Stokes hit another carpet on September 12, when they were each other\u2019s dates to the VMAs<\/a>. During their night out, they treated fans to some serious PDA<\/a>, which got plenty of love on TikTok.<\/p>\n In a Sept. 12 interview with Elite Daily, Ballerini explained how she and Stokes keep their romance alive with such demanding schedules<\/a>. \u201cI think a FaceTime in the morning and a FaceTime at night to start and end your day with someone you love is really important,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s really easy to just find a minute or an hour in the morning and at night with your person.\u201d <\/p>\n Stokes attended the CFDA Fashion Awards on Nov. 6. Although he didn\u2019t bring Ballerini, he spoke about her<\/a> while walking the carpet. “She’s working, she’s doing her thing, I’m doing my thing. We got stuff going on,\u201d he explained his GF\u2019s absence to Entertainment Tonight<\/em>. Apparently, Stokes spent the morning in Nashville with Ballerini before flying to NYC for the CFDA festivities. <\/p>\n Stokes also reflected on his and Ballerini\u2019s summer together. “It’s been such a blessing over the last couple of months, ’cause we’ve had the time to [be together],” he told ET<\/em>. “I’m just, I’m happy as a bean.”<\/p>\n At the event, Stokes also opened up about watching Ballerini headline her first hometown show in Knoxville, Tennessee on Nov. 2. The actor admitted he \u201ccried\u201d watching her perform. He told People, <\/em>\u201cI\u2019m still recouping my hearing<\/a> from how loud it was \u2026 for her to go back to her hometown and to sell out an arena, like that stage \u2014 it was the coolest thing. I cried the whole time.\u201d<\/p>\nDecember 2022: Kelsea DMed Chase<\/h2>\n
January 2023: Dating Rumors Began<\/h2>\n
![\"Chase](\"https:\/\/imgix.bustle.com\/uploads\/getty\/2023\/11\/7\/49f79729-828c-4cfd-87f2-3ee9c2ffced5-getty-1471554509.jpg?w=760&h=1140&fit=crop&crop=faces&auto=format%2Ccompress)
<\/picture><\/noscript><\/div>February: Kelsea Confirmed They\u2019re Together<\/h2>\n
March: Chase Was Spotted At Kelsea\u2019s Shows<\/h2>\n
![\"Chase](\"https:\/\/imgix.bustle.com\/uploads\/getty\/2023\/11\/7\/b1291bd5-cbeb-40e0-91e4-10eb689fd60d-getty-1479232428.jpg?w=760&h=1064&fit=crop&crop=faces&auto=format%2Ccompress)
<\/picture><\/noscript><\/div>April: Chase & Kelsea Went To The CMT Awards<\/h2>\n
![\"Chase](\"https:\/\/imgix.bustle.com\/uploads\/getty\/2023\/11\/7\/e75b65ec-5ed1-46b3-a497-73e8d4e07484-getty-1479188987.jpg?w=760&h=1140&fit=crop&crop=faces&auto=format%2Ccompress)
<\/picture><\/noscript><\/div>September: Chase & Kelsea Went To The VMAs<\/h2>\n
![\"Kelsea](\"https:\/\/imgix.bustle.com\/uploads\/getty\/2023\/11\/7\/5fb2e272-adc0-465d-8d02-90ce6f709b52-getty-1677163152.jpg?w=760&h=1140&fit=crop&crop=faces&auto=format%2Ccompress)
<\/picture><\/noscript><\/div>November 2023: Chase Said He \u201cCried\u201d During Kelsea\u2019s Hometown Show<\/h2>\n