Kelsea Ballerini Isn't Embarrassed About Sliding Into Chase Stokes's DMs
"I was living my best life. I have no shame in that game."
Country superstar Kelsea Ballerini and her beau, Outer Banks hottie Chase Stokes, may have what appears to be a picture-perfect, fairy-tale romance, but real fans know that when it comes down to a meet-cute, it was more about DMs than grand gestures. Ballerini opened up about exactly what went down when she slid into his Instagram Messages for Nylon's It Girl Issue, saying that she has no shame in her game, especially since it all worked out.
Just last month, Ballerini actually shared a screenshot of the initial exchange, which was sent at 1:07 a.m. The simple message? "hiii chase stokes." No capital letters, no worries.
“I was at a bar in Nashville with some friends from Charleston [where Outer Banks films], and they were like, ‘What about Chase?’” the singer told Nylon. She noted that she'd followed Stokes and he followed her back. “I was just like, ‘Why am I waiting for this guy to reach out to me? This is 2022.’"
And Ballerini knows it's not the stuff of grand romances, but she's quick to point out that it doesn't really matter.
“Bro, I know … Listen, I was living my best life. I have no shame in that game,” she said.
Related: Kelsea Ballerini Has the Best Advice on How to Handle Heartbreak
Ballerini went on to say that she and Stokes rearranged their schedules so that they could meet up in Los Angeles. Another point for the age of digital dating? He asked her to drop a pin.
"I was playing a birthday party for a friend of mine, but I got there and was like, ‘It’s kind of crazy that we’re finally in the same town and I’m not seeing you today," she explained. "He was like, ‘Drop your pin.’ He just showed up at this party and yeah, it was great.”
The singer did get a dose of oohs and ahhs in, however, saying that while their initial correspondence wasn't traditional, when they met up IRL, it was love at first sight.
“I really did [know] as soon as I met him,” she added. “And maybe that sounds like I’ve learned zero things, but I’ve always been a heart-first girl, and the truth is it’s never led me astray. I’ve always been where I needed to be while I needed to be there.”
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