Here’s Why Chase Stokes & Kelsea Ballerini Broke Up Again

What started as a flirty DM and blossomed into one of the cutest celebrity relationships has come to a messy end — not once, not twice, but thrice. Chase Stokes and Kelsea Ballerini were first reported to have broken up by People on Sept. 14. The on-and-off again couple have had a few contradictory status updates since then, but according to a Feb. 6 report, they have called it quits for good.

A source close to the Outer Banks actor told People that the couple is “not dating right now.” On Feb. 9, the insider said, “They still love each other, which is why they've kept trying to make it work. But their lives are in very different places right now. Figuring out where to live and how to truly merge their lives has been hard lately. It's been something they've gone back and forth on.”

“They just want to be happy though. They've been trying to figure out a situation where they are both happy together, but that doesn't seem possible at the moment,” the source added to People.

Another insider claimed that career tension contributed to the split. “Kelsea's been so supportive of him throughout their relationship but it hasn't been reciprocated, especially as her career has continued to grow. It feels like there's insecurity there on his end,” they told the outlet.

Before their latest split, Ballerini and Stokes seemed to be on the right track — but it was not easy to get there. After nearly three years together, they broke up in September. Shortly after the initial breakup news in September, Ballerini posted a TikTok to Ariana Grande’s song “shut up” — specifically, the lyrics that suggest, “Maybe you should shut up.” The country singer made it very clear who the video was directed to: “cc: speculators, ‘sources’, and hidden cameras outside the hair salon. let us be. please. ❤️‍🩹.”

One day earlier, on Sept. 22, an insider told Us Weekly that the breakup was a “hard split.” Apparently, they’ve both been “extremely busy,” but were still “trying to make it work.” The source added, “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.”

According to the source, Ballerini “initiated the conversation.” However, they both acted like “mature adults and had the same understanding that they needed space.”

“There is still a lot of love between them,” the insider continued at the time. “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. Chase understood that, but in the end, they realized they weren’t aligning the way they hoped.”

According to People’s Sept. 14 report, “They’re two adults who gave it their all and tried to do everything they could to make it work, but ultimately couldn’t. It happens.”

However, things have gotten a lot more confusing since the initial split. On Nov. 10, it was reported that Stokes and Ballerini had gotten back together after about two months apart. But the good times didn’t last long. Just days later, Ballerini release her song “Emerald City,” which was widely believed to be inspired by jealous feelings of Stokes’ ex Madelyn Cline. Stokes didn’t exactly help things when he showed up in Ballerini’s TikTok comments, calling the speculation about the song “f*cking weird” and telling commenters to “grow up.”

Then, on Nov. 20, Stokes shared a couple cryptic messages to his Instagram Story that seemed to imply the couple had ended things again. “Don’t believe the media. I’m blocked. I did nothing wrong,” Stokes wrote. “Sorry. I tried.”

A second message read: “I’m sorry for those who believed in us. It is what it is. Onwards and upwards.”

Us Weekly confirmed the second breakup in a Nov. 20 report, with a source revealing they had split within “this past week.” The source claimed things had gotten “so rocky and toxic” in the couple’s brief reconciliation, and “jealousy definitely got in the way” of making it work. As Stokes’ social media posts alluded, he and Ballerini reportedly “aren’t talking right now.”

However, things changed in December when they announced their reconciliation with a hard launch on Instagram. “Messy year for the heart, messy year for the outside coming in, messy year for the way it became an out of our hands portrayal of it," Ballerini wrote on her IG Stories on Dec. 31. "But what i'll say, and all i really care to share indefinitely with my personal life anymore, is that i really love love. I believe in it, i believe in him, and i believe in breaking patterns."

“now go kiss your person and stop speculating,” she added, alongside a photo of Stokes and her kissing in front of a sunset. Stokes also shared photos with Ballerini on IG, alongside a message about “growth” and “accountaility.”

Then, at the Grammys on Feb. 1, Ballerini confirmed that she and Stokes were going strong. “He was with me getting ready today and he’ll be with me when we wrap,” Ballerini told Entertainment Tonight on the red carpet. “I love love, and I believe in it.”

Less than a week later, however, it seems like Ballerini and Stokes have changed their tune once more.