Shortly after ‘rekindling’ their romance, it appears that Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes have broken up again.
Stokes, 33, fueled split speculation by sharing a string of cryptic posts to his Instagram Story on Thursday, which he later deleted.
It comes after the Outer Banks star was noticeably absent from Ballerini’s side at Wednesday night’s CMA Awards, where the 32-year-old singer performed her emotional new single.
While Stokes did not name Ballerini in his since-deleted posts, he did allude to relationship strife as he apologized to fans ‘who believed in us.’
‘Don’t believe the media,’ he began. ‘I’m blocked, I did nothing wrong.’
Stokes did not reveal who had blocked him or where he had been blocked.
Shortly after rekindling their romance, it appears that Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes have broken up again; the couple seen in May 2025
Near the bottom of the post, he added, ‘Sorry [red heart emoji]. I tried.’
Shortly after, Stokes continued his cryptic messages in a follow-up Instagram Story post.
‘I’m sorry for those who believed in us,’ he wrote in bold white lettering over a black backdrop. ‘It is what it is. Onwards and upwards.’
While Stokes later deleted the posts from his Instagram Story, that did not stop fans from speculating about the state of the couple’s relationship on social media.
Many were convinced that Ballerini had ‘blocked’ Stokes on Instagram as they pointed out that the couple were no longer following one another.
Several fans also took Stokes’ posts as official confirmation of a breakup between himself and Ballerini.
Just days before Thursday’s cryptic posts, Stokes had clapped back at trolls who were leaving ‘weird’ comments under Ballerini’s recent TikTok promoting her song People Pleaser, which was posted Monday.
In the comment section, fans started referencing Stokes and his Outer Banks co-star Madelyn Cline, 27, whom he famously dated prior to Ballerini.
‘These comments are f***ing weird. Grow up,’ Stokes wrote, condemning the haters.
Stokes, 33, fueled split speculation by sharing a string of cryptic posts to his Instagram Story on Thursday, which he later deleted
Shortly after, Stokes continued his cryptic messages in a follow-up post
Stokes did not reveal who had blocked him or where he had been blocked; seen in 2024
It’s unclear exactly what the comments were, as they were either deleted or removed, but one person said that someone had been posting photos of Stokes and Cline under Ballerini’s posts, per PEOPLE.
‘[Outer Banks] fans were posting nonsense and Chase called them out so they deleted it,’ the fan wrote.
At least one of the tracks on Ballerini’s new EP Mount Pleasant is believed to be about Stokes’ ex-girlfriend Cline.
Fans have linked the lyrics of Emerald City, in which she sings about envy, to the actress.
One fan wrote under Monday’s post, ‘So now it’s ok for Kelsea to be calling Madelyn a red flag and how she goes around to many [guys]. Wow, I’m sure Madelyn is pissed at you both, Chase and Kelsea. Idiots.’
Last week it was reported by Us Weekly that despite breaking up weeks ago, Stokes and Ballerini ‘never really stopped’ talking.
The couple went their separate ways after two years of dating in September but they had reportedly reconciled and were ‘back together.’
‘[They] never really stopped being in touch after their brief split. They really picked up where they left off,’ said a source.
While Stokes later deleted the posts from his Instagram Story, that did not stop fans from speculating about the state of the couple’s relationship on social media; seen in 2024
It was said that the music artist realized how much she ‘missed’ the actor during their break.
‘Kelsea wanted to give it another chance and missed Chase a lot,’ the person close to the pair shared.
And Stokes was willing to give things another go according to the insider, who added: ‘[Chase] never wanted the break-up.
‘[He] always felt there was something between them and believed they just needed time to cool off and figure things out.’
Having ‘worked through some of their ‘issues,’ the insider claimed that both entertainers were ‘hopeful this time around will be better.’
Ballerini and Stokes never commented on their reported reunion.
However, multiple sources confirmed the news to Us Weekly, and the celebrity duo were spotted together near Edinburgh Castle in Scotland in October, fueling speculation that they had rekindled their relationship.
Eyewitness Gemma Kennedy told the publication: ‘[Chase] was very nice. We had a wee chat about how he was having a holiday in Scotland before going to Croatia to film the final season of Outer Banks. They both seemed really happy and smiley.’
Just days before Thursday’s cryptic posts, Stokes had clapped back at trolls who were leaving ‘weird’ comments under Ballerini’s recent TikTok promoting her song People Pleaser, which was posted Monday; seen in April 2024
At least one of the tracks on Ballerini’s new EP Mount Pleasant is believed to be about Stokes’ ex-girlfriend and Outer Banks co-star Madelyn Cline; Stokes and Cline seen in 2020
Gemma noted that the two ‘seemed like the sweetest people’ during their outing in Scotland.
She added: ‘They were very much loved-up and holding hands at the bar.’
The couple began dating in January 2023 following Ballerini’s divorce from fellow musician Morgan Evans.
She and Evans, 40, were married from 20217 until their split in 2022.
Before he got with Ballerini, Stokes dated his Outer Banks co-star Cline. They first met in 2019 on set of the hit Netflix series and started dating soon after.
After just over a year together, the couple unexpectedly split in 2021.
Despite the breakup, Stokes and Cline are believed to have maintained an amicable co-working relationship as they continue to shoot Outer Banks.
