No pressure! Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes aren’t in a rush to label their relationship, a source exclusively reveals in the latest issue of Us Weekly.
“Right now, they have a very no strings [attached] situation,” the insider says, noting that the country singer, 29, and the Outer Banks star, 30, are “rarely in the same place, so they’re still getting to know each other.”
The “Half of My Hometown” songstress and the Beach House actor “have a very flirty relationship,” the source explains, adding that the duo “like each other and are staying in contact.”
Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock; AFF-USA/Shutterstock
The CMT Music Awards host, however, is “not looking to jump into something very serious” following her divorce from Morgan Evans last year. “Kelsea does really like Chase though, he’s fun and carefree and she needs that,” the insider tells Us. “So there’s a very real possibility that they could date exclusively on the future.”
Ballerini made headlines in August 2022 when she and Evans, 37, announced they had parted ways after nearly five years of marriage. The pair, who tied the knot in December 2017, finalized their divorce in November 2022.
The exes have since traded jabs in their respective breakup ballads. The Aussie singer penned “Over For You” in late 2022, in which he asked: “How long have you been breaking? / Why am I just finding out? / How long has it been over for you?”
Ballerini, for her part, released a six-track EP titled Rolling Up the Welcome Mat on February 14. “I realize you loved me much more at twenty-three / I think that this is when it’s over for me,” she sings in the title track, “Mountain With a View.”
The “You’re Drunk, Go Home” songstress opened up even more about the split during a February 22 appearance on the “Call Your Daddy” podcast. At the time, she revealed she hadn’t spoken to Evans in months.
“I was just really honest. I was like, ‘I’ve loved what this has brought in my life and I respect you and I respect me and because of that, I can no longer be in this marriage,’” Ballerini recalled during the episode. “We cried, we hugged. It was sweet. And then something changed and I haven’t talked to him since.”
Amid all the drama, the “Peter Pan” singer has grown closer to Stokes, whom she was first linked to in January after attending the 2023 College Football Playoff National Championship game together in Los Angeles.
One month later, Ballerini broke her silence over the budding relationship, telling “Call Her Daddy” host Alex Cooper that she slid into Stokes’ DMs. “His handle is ‘hichasestokes’ and I just said, ‘Hi Chase Stokes,’” she recalled during the February podcast appearance.
“I have my s–t together and for me to share that with anyone is a gift,” the “Heartfirst” musician continued, teasing her and Stokes’ future. “I want to be with someone that feels the same way about their life. … I’m a relationship bitch.”
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Watch the exclusive video above for more on Ballerini and Stokes’ flirty romance — and pick up the latest issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now.