Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes stuck together on the 2024 CMT Music Awards red carpet.
The singer, 30, had the Outer Banks star, 31, in her corner as she prepared to host the Sunday, April 7, ceremony, which took place at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas. Ballerini walked the CMT Music Awards red carpet in a red gown with lace cutout details and EFFY Jewelry as she embraced Stokes, who donned a white blazer and black trousers. They were seen kissing and wrapping their arms around each other ahead of the show.
In addition to hosting the awards show by herself for the first time, Ballerini is also nominated for Video of the Year for “If You Go Down (I’m Goin’ Down Too),” Female Video of the Year for “Penthouse” and CMT Performance of the Year for “If You Go Down (I’m Goin’ Down Too)” at the 2023 CMT Music Awards.
Ballerini and Stokes made their red carpet debut at the 2023 CMT Music Awards in April 2023 after first being linked in January of that year. Last month, Stokes addressed his willingness to have a public relationship with Ballerini.
“Sometimes it feels like maybe it’s an oversharing situation, or maybe there’s a lot of details,” he told E! News in March, “but I truthfully believe that my personal life is really, really private.”
While fans may think they have an all-access pass to Stokes and Ballerini’s romance, he added, “I still feel like I have a really good grasp on my privacy.”
Ballerini shared a similar sentiment in July 2023. “The thing that we’ve decided, and to each their own, is when you’re with someone that you feel secure with and that you’re proud to be with, why not share it?” she told StyleCaster at the time. “He’s also a Virgo; we’re both Labrador Retrievers in human form. It doesn’t take much conversation to be on the same page.”
Stokes, who celebrated his one-year anniversary with Ballerini in January, also opened up about how the couple balance their packed schedules, including “FaceTime date nights” when they are away from each other.
“We’ve been really fortunate in this recent chapter that our busy seasons have not overlapped,” he told E! News. “So, [Ballerini will] either be here or I’ll go to Nashville, which has made it really nice. In the future and as we’ve continued to grow in our relationship, we just try to make sure our schedules can coexist and we have time.”
When the pair can attend events together, Stokes revealed how they coordinate their red carpet ensembles. “We just try to coexist with our looks, but never intentionally match,” he exclusively told Us Weekly in March. “We try to favor each other for sure.”