- - Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes Split Again 5 Weeks After Announcing Reconciliation: What Went Wrong (Exclusive)

Daniela AvilaFebruary 10, 2026 at 12:00 AM

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Chase Stokes and Kelsea Ballerini at the ACM Awards in Texas in May 2025

Gilbert Flores/Penske Media via Getty

Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes have broken up again, PEOPLE confirms

"They've been trying to figure out a situation where they are both happy together, but that doesn't seem possible at the moment," a Stokes source tells PEOPLE

The on-off pair previously revealed they had gotten back together on New Year's Eve after a brief split

Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes are off again, multiple sources confirm to PEOPLE.

The country superstar, 32, and the actor, 33, are "not dating right now," a Stokes source tells PEOPLE.

"They still love each other, which is why they've kept trying to make it work. But their lives are in very different places right now. Figuring out where to live and how to truly merge their lives has been hard lately. It's been something they've gone back and forth on," the source says.

The source adds: "They just want to be happy though. They've been trying to figure out a situation where they are both happy together, but that doesn't seem possible at the moment."

A second insider tells PEOPLE that "Kelsea's been so supportive of him throughout their relationship but it hasn't been reciprocated, especially as her career has continued to grow. It feels like there's insecurity there on his end."

Reps for Ballerini and Stokes did not respond to PEOPLE's request for comment. TMZ was first to report the news.

Chase Stokes and Kelsea Ballerini at the 2025 Grammys in Los Angeles

Francis Specker/CBS via Getty

Ballerini and Stokes first sparked dating rumors in January 2023 and went public with their romance at the April 2023 CMT Awards.

After nearly three years together, PEOPLE confirmed last September that the pair had split.

"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," sources close to the couple told PEOPLE exclusively at the time.

Ballerini then traveled to meet Stokes on location for Outer Banks in Europe, where they rekindled their romance before things appeared to flame out amid a series of cryptic social media posts from Stokes in late November, amid the release of her Mount Pleasant EP.

By New Year's Eve, however, the "People Pleaser" singer and actor confirmed they were back together and shared thoughts on her rekindled romance, acknowledging their hard times in an Instagram post.

"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," Ballerini wrote over a photo of her and Stokes embracing with a sunset in the background.

"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."

Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes in December 2025

Chase Stokes/Instagram

Stokes supported Ballerini through the death of her dog, Dibs, of cancer in January.

Speaking with Entertainment Tonight at the 2026 Grammys earlier this month, the nominee said the couple's 2025 splits looked "a lot more dramatic than it was."

"And that was quite the learning lesson for us. But I love him so much," she said. "We’ve been together for quite a while now and done a lot of life together and he was with me getting ready today and he’ll be with me when we wrap. I love love and I believe it in it.”

In an interview on E! Live from the Red Carpet, Ballerini also admitted she wanted to be more conservative about how much of her personal life she puts out into the world.

"I've always been a chronic oversharer and I think for the first time, at 32 I'm reining it in," she said. "I think my life might just be my life for a while. It feels right."

on People

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”