Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes have pulled the plug on their relationship for the third time – just weeks after announcing they were back together.
“Kelsea and Chase have broken up again. It happened just the other day,” a source exclusively tells Us Weekly, noting that Ballerini, 32, is “taking it better” than she had in the previous breakups.
Stokes, however, “still isn’t ready to give up on them,” the source says, “but she’s done.”
Eagle-eyed fans also noticed on Friday, February 6, that Ballerini unfollowed Stokes, 33, on Instagram, although the Outer Banks star still appears to be following her.
Ballerini and Stokes, who were first romantically linked in January 2023 when they were spotted at the College Football Playoff National Championship in Los Angeles, split for the first time in September 2025.
At the time, Us confirmed that the couple had separated just two days after Stokes shared a birthday message to honor Ballerini.
“Although you keep saying you’re not excited for 32, I’d say I’m lookin’ forward to more of this,” he wrote via Instagram on September 12, 2025. “Happy birthday, my love.”
They decided to give it another shot two months later, and multiple sources exclusively confirmed to Us in November 2025 they were back together.
“Kelsea and Chase are giving their relationship another try,” one insider told Us at the time. “There’s still a lot of love there, so they fell back into it very naturally.”
This reconciliation was short-lived, however, and within weeks, they were broken up again.
The twists and turns of the duo’s on-off relationship continued in December 2025. Taking to social media to ring in the new year, Ballerini and Stokes revealed they had reunited again.
“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 via her Instagram Story on December 31, 2025. “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.”
Stokes shared an emotional post of his own to confirm the couple’s reconciliation.
“Something I’ve learned this year: don’t take advantage of the most beautiful things that in 33 years of life are fleeting,” he wrote. “Take accountability, learn from mistakes. Lean into love and say it often. 2026 my year of growth, my year of truth. Starting here, starting now. Happy new years ❤️.”
Less than a week ago, Ballerini spoke to Entertainment Tonight about getting back together with Stokes, insisting the situation wasn’t as “dramatic” as it appeared.
“I love him so much. We’ve been together for quite a while now and done a lot of life together and he was with me getting ready today and he’ll be with me when we wrap. I love love and I believe it in it,” she told the outlet at the 2026 Grammys on Sunday, February 1, which Stokes did not attend.
During their relationship, both Stokes and Ballerini had gushed about each other in media interviews.
“I truthfully think when you find somebody who’s not just somebody you love and adore, but is also your best friend, you’ve kind of got the best of both worlds,” Stokes said of Ballerini during an October 2024 appearance on Today. “And she’s not just a great person, but everything that you see — whether it be on social media or when she’s on stage — is exactly the person she is when she’s not doing those things.”
Speaking to Us in July 2025, Ballerini reflected on how the relationship had evolved over time.
“You do [challenge each other], or it’s boring and then you’re stagnant and then that’s not going to work out,” she told Us in July. “I think we’re two and a half years in, so [the relationship] looks a lot different now than it did in the beginning. I don’t know, I think we’re really similar — and in the ways that we’re different, that’s where we challenge each other. … I just want all the good things in the world for him.”
