Kelsea Ballerini Says She Feels "Supported and Seen" by Chase Stokes

Kelsea Ballerini Addresses Critics After Onstage Incident

It's the little things that seem to make Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes' relationship work.

Like how they support each other. The singer held a fan event for the screening of her "Rolling Up the Welcome Mat" short film in New York on Aug. 10 and the Outer Banks star was by her side. Kelsea—who wore a purple dress, red lip and high bun for the occasion—was spotted smiling from ear to ear as she walked with Chase, who donned a plaid button-up over a white T-shirt and jeans.

And when she performed on Today Aug. 11, he was right there cheering her on.

"It's just nice to feel so supported and seen," the 29-year-old said on the show, "and, yeah, he's such a wonderful, wonderful human being." 

As Kelsea revealed on her bombshell episode of Call Her Daddy earlier this year, she and Chase, 30, started talking in December after she slid into his DMs. By January, the three-time Grammy nominee and the actor were sparking dating rumors. Just a few months later, they made their red carpet debut as a couple at the 2023 CMT Music Awards and have continued to give fans glimpses into their romance on social media and at her shows.

However, Kelsea has expressed how she wants to look towards the future and not the past. And before she unveiled the extended version of the album—Rolling Up the Welcome Mat (For Good)—she noted on Instagram that this re-release was for the fans and asked them to "not dig back into the experience that it was written about nearly a year ago," adding that she's "proud and protective of the new, happy season of life" that she's entered.

"This record is about a chapter of my life that is just no longer mine," she explained on Today following the Aug. 11 release, "and so I think being able to honor it through music is really beautiful and bookmark it and preserve it ‘cause I learned a lot and I think it's valuable. But I don't want to keep harping on the past. It's the past, you know? I'm moving forward."

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