Kelsea Ballerini Spotted On Date Night With Boyfriend Chase Stokes

Kelsea Ballerini went out on a date night with boyfriend Chase Stokes on Wednesday evening (April 16), just a few days after the singer-songwriter wrapped up her first headlining arena tour. The couple attended a benefit event at The Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.

The Patterns star and the Outer Banks actor attended the A Country Thing Happened On The Way To Cure Parkinson’s event, which benefitted The Michael J. Fox Foundation. Sunday Today host Willie Geist hosted the event. Comedian Dusty Slay took the stage, in addition to powerhouse country stars Chris Stapleton and Little Big Town (the quartet served as Battle Advisors for Team Kelsea on The Voice earlier this season). Ballerini wrote on her Instagram story on Thursday morning (April 17) that she “had the absolute pleasure of attending Michael J. Fox’s benefit for Parkinson’s last night in Nashville. The research this foundation is doing is groundbreaking and inspiring and changing lives.”

Ballerini slid into Stokes’ DMs on Instagram in December 2022. Rumors began to swirl about their budding relationship when the Marked Men star posted a photo sitting closely with Balleirni at the College Football Playoff National Championship at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Ballerini confirmed the new relationship in an interview on Call Her Daddy. The pair have since shared sweet moments in their relationship on social media and in interviews.

“I think it is very underrated for a man to be like, really proud of his relationship,” Ballerini told Entertainment Tonight when asked about the “hottest part” about Stokes in October 2024. “He posted that photo of us at the National Championship before we even had the conversation of, like, ‘are we together?’ Even as a very independently-wired woman, I love when he’s like, ‘this is us. Here we are.’ …He full sent that.”

Ballerini has also shared very public tributes to Stokes, who inspired love songs on her most recent album. Fans screamed when Ballerini included a surprise nod to Stokes during one of the final stops on her first-ever arena tour in Charleston, South Carolina, where Stokes lives. Ballerini was performing “How Do I Do This?,” a song about dating again after divorce, when she dramatically tossed her high ponytail to reveal the name “STOKES” on the back of the jersey she was wearing.

In a recent interview with PEOPLE, Ballerini responded to the question: “do you still believe in marriage?”

She replied with a laugh: “I do. I do. I definitely do. I’ve learned so much, and I’ve grown up a lot. ...I love love, and I think different people have different goals and what it can look like, you know? I don’t know. I don’t know what the future holds, but I value partnership very heavily …I’m open, but who knows.”