Who did Chase Stokes date before Kelsea Ballerini? 'Outer Banks' star's dating history explored as couple hits ACM red carpet

Chase Stokes and Kelsea Ballerini recently received attention as the duo appeared together at the 2025 ACM Awards. Their red carpet appearance has reignited interest in Stokes’ dating history.

Stokes, 32, shot to stardom with his portrayal of John B in Netflix’s hit teen drama Outer Banks, which premiered in 2020. At that time, Stokes was in a long term relationship with Xiomara Montalvo. The two are said to have dated for almost a decade before breaking up, per US Weekly. Stokes spoke of their breakup in an interview with New York magazine’s The Strategist in 2020, where he shared that they had split up right before quarantine.

"I went through a breakup a little bit before quarantine, and it was with somebody I’d been with for almost 10 years," he said.

According to an article by J-14, not long after Outer Banks was released on Netflix, fans began shipping Stokes and his on-screen love Madelyn Cline. Their on-screen chemistry soon translated off the screen, too.

The duo made their romance known through social media in June 2020. Chase Stokes later revealed that their relationship grew stronger after the cameras stopped rolling and in the midst of the pandemic lockdown.

"It wasn’t until after that, until we started to kind of get into the lockdown where we were like, ‘Is there something here or am I crazy?’ That’s sort of where it bloomed from there," Chase Stokes told Us Weekly.

Although they tried to keep their professional and personal lives separate at first, the couple eventually broke up in late 2021. The duo never directly addressed the underlying reasons for their breakup. Stokes seemed to remember Madelyn Cline positively in the aftermath of their breakup, calling her one of his favorite people on planet Earth, during a December 2021 interview with Us Weekly.

Chase Stokes was also briefly associated with model Izabella Metz in 2022. The two were reportedly photographed together, acting affectionately with one another at a New York City party. However, the rumored romance ended rather quickly.

Fast forward to 2023, and Stokes has become the center of attention once more, this time for his new romance with country artist, Kelsea Ballerini.

A look into Chase Stokes and Kelsea Ballerini's early relationship

Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes’ relationship started in the most surprising of ways. Ballerini revealed in a February 2023 appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast that she took the first step and sent Stokes a message on Instagram in December 2022.

Having never seen his show Outer Banks, she was interested and took a shot. Thanks to her text, they soon went on their first date to a sushi restaurant.

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Their relationship has grown since then. According to Parade, Ballerini has even found inspiration from their love story. Her 2024 album Patterns includes love songs that were influenced by their romance like “First Rodeo” and “How Much Do You Love Me?”. Stokes also had a cameo in the First Rodeo music video.

Ballerini was previously married to Australian country singer Morgan Evans. The couple had married in 2017 and were divorced by 2022, with Ballerini claiming that the breakup was a mutual decision.

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