Kelsea Ballerini & Chase Stokes' 1st Kiss Story Is So "Unconventional" (DETAILS)
"I can do this! I can do this!" the Voice Coach told herself in a cute pre-date pep talk.
Kelsea Ballerini’s love story with Chase Stokes is a modern day romance that all started with The Voice Coach sliding into the actor’s DMs on Instagram. Some time later, the couple went public with their relationship in February 2023 — after they went on not one, but two first dates.
Ballerini, one of many country stars on the Opry 100: A Live Celebration performance lineup, has talked about that milestone moment in their relationship and even shared an adorable video of herself feeling those classic first date jitters.
RELATED: All of Kelsea Ballerini's Love Songs About Her Boyfriend Chase Stokes
Kelsea Ballerini filmed a sweet video of herself before her first official date with Chase Stokes
In August 2023, Ballerini shared a short video she had recorded for her best friend ahead of her first date with Stokes. “Okay, here’s the look with the boots,” she says in front of a full-length mirror at the beginning of the TikTok video set to her song “How Do I Do This.”
She then turned to show off how her hair was styled half up with a claw clip in the back. “We’ve got this hair clip, because we’re trying to be cool, girl,” she says. “He’s picking me up and we’re going to a sushi place and I’ll call you tomorrow with the full update.”
Striking a couple cute poses in front of the mirror, Ballerini then took a deep breath as she got out those first date jitters. “I can do this! I can do this! It’s just a date,” she tells herself. “You just go and you eat food and you talk about things that you do. Okay!”
Ballerini wasn't the only one feeling a bit of nerves before their sushi date. Stokes told Entertainment Tonight he gave himself a “very similar” pep talk beforehand. “[I told myself] ‘Don’t screw this up, don’t screw this up, don’t screw this up,’” he recalled on the VMAs red carpet with Ballerini. “I kinda knew before then. I was like, ‘Uh oh I like this girl.’”
The Outer Banks star added that Ballerini even noticed how nervous he was. “She called me out,” Stokes revealed. “She was like ‘Are you nervous?’ And I was like ‘Yeah, kind of!’”
Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes have *two* first date stories
While the couple’s first official, planned date happened the night of Ballerini’s pep talk video, they actually had an impromptu meeting the night before. At the time, they had been chatting for a while after Ballerini slid into Stokes’ DMs, as the country star revealed on the Call Her Daddy podcast, but they hadn’t officially met in person yet.
“Truth is, we met the night before,” Ballerini told Entertainment Tonight. “The edge was off a little bit, but I was still nervous. It was our first, like, sitting across the table at dinner [date]. That’s intimidating!”
RELATED: Kelsea Ballerini Reveals the "Beautiful Thing" About Dating Boyfriend Chase Stokes
The night before, Ballerini was performing at a friend’s birthday party in L.A. and decided to shoot Stokes a text. “I was like, ‘It’s crazy that we’ve been talking every day for, like, a month and we’re in the same city finally and you’re not here.’ And he just said, ‘Drop a pin,’” Ballerini told Women’s Health. “So he rolled up and that night he stayed with me during the gig and then took me back to my hotel and we had an espresso martini in the lobby. Then the next day, he took me on a proper date — like a gentleman.”
Chase Stokes says he “pulled the most unconventional move” when he met Kelsea Ballerini for the first time
Stokes remembers feeling like he was “gonna pass out” as he drove to Ballerini's gig the first night they met in person. “She is such a force of nature, she’s so honest,” the actor said on the Podcrushed podcast, adding that he wanted to match her “energy,” but was full of nerves.
“I sat in the car and I saw her come up the stairs and she was wearing a white pleather fit,” he recalled. As Stokes sat there, he “confessed” to the valet guy trying to park his car that he needed “30 seconds to get my s--- together” before he finally met Ballerini. And when he did, he said he “pulled the most unconventional move of all time.”
“I just grabbed her and kissed her and said, ‘Thank God you’re real,’” Stokes revealed. “I hadn’t even said ‘Hi, I’m Chase. Nice to officially meet you.’ And I just remember walking in after I did that and was like, ‘Where the f--- did that come from, dude?’”
RELATED: You'll Want to Steal Kelsea Ballerini & Chase Stokes’ Uplifting Relationship Mantra
