- - Chase Stokes and Kelsea Ballerini Are Back Together After a 'Messy Year For the Heart'

Raven BrunnerJanuary 1, 2026 at 6:58 AM

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Chase Stokes/Instagram

Chase Stokes and Kelsea Ballerini -

Chase Stokes and Kelsea Ballerini shared in respective Instagram posts that they're back together after announcing their break-up in September 2025

"2026 my year of growth, my year of truth. Starting here, starting now," Stokes wrote in an Instagram post

The country star, meanwhile, wrote on her Instagram Stories that 2025 was a "messy year for the heart"

Chase Stokes and Kelsea Ballerini are bringing their love into the new year.

The two celebrities shared in respective Instagram posts on Wednesday, Dec. 31 that they are back together after announcing their break-up in September 2025.

Stokes, 33, included several photos of Ballerini, 32, in a reflective post to his feed. "Something I’ve learned this year: don’t take advantage of the most beautiful things that in 33 years of life are fleeting. Take accountability, learn from mistakes. Lean into love and say it often," he wrote in the caption.

Chase Stokes/Instagram

Chase Stokes and Kelsea Ballerini

"2026 my year of growth, my year of truth. Starting here, starting now. Happy new years," the actor concluded.

The first photo was of Stokes and Ballerini embracing each other while standing on a porch outside. The dimly-lit snap showed them pressing their faces together, nearly sharing a kiss.

View this post on Instagram

Other pictures include the two hugging while turned towards the camera and Ballerini cuddling a dog in a fluffy brown coat.

Ballerini also shared her thoughts on their rekindled romance on her Instagram Stories, in which she acknowledged their hard times. "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," she wrote over a photo of her and Stokes embracing with a sunset in the background.

Chase Stokes/Instagram

Kelsea Ballerini

"But what I’ll say," she continued, "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," the country star concluded with a kissing emoji.

Kelsea Ballerini/Instagram

Kelsea Ballerini Instagram Stories post

Ballerini and Stokes initially sparked dating rumors in January 2023 after the Outer Banks actor shared a cuddly photo of them at the Georgia vs. TCU game at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. The two teased their relationship in a handful of interviews before going public with their romance in April 2023 at the CMT Awards.

In September 2025, a rep for Ballerini confirmed to PEOPLE that the couple split after nearly three years together. A source told PEOPLE at the time, "They’re two adults who gave it their all and tried to do everything they could to make it work, but ultimately couldn’t. It happens."

In early November 2025, a source told PEOPLE that they saw the two "holding hands at the table and talking closely" at a restaurant in Dubrovnik, Croatia. "After they got up, they walked together hand in hand towards Old Town. They looked very cute,” the onlooker added.

Just weeks later, on Nov. 20, Stokes shared two cryptic posts on his Instagram Stories that hinted at him and the "Baggage" singer being done for good. "Don't believe the media. I'm blocked, I did nothing wrong," Stokes wrote in the first post. "Sorry ❤️ I tried."

Gilbert Flores/Penske Media via Getty

Chase Stokes and Kelsea Ballerini at the 60th Academy Of Country Music Awards on May 08, 2025 in Frisco, Texas.

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"I'm sorry for those who believed in us," he wrote in a second post. It is what it is. Onwards and upwards."

Ballerini wrote in an update on her Instagram Stories in December 2025 that she’s “trying to make my personal life personal for now.”

“Unless it comes from me, its not from me. and that is really important in protecting my peace right now,” the singer added.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”