Kelsea Ballerini Feels ‘Supported & Seen’ by Chase Stokes: ‘He’s Such a Wonderful Human Being’

Kelsea Ballerini is letting love in. During her Friday (Aug. 11) appearance on the Today show, the country singer was asked about a recent viral video of her and Chase Stokes kissing before she hit the stage — which prompted her to share a few kind words about the Outer Banks star and her rumored boyfriend.

“I’m so happy. He’s here too. It’s nice to feel so supported and seen,” Ballerini said, sweetly adding that the actor is “such a wonderful human being.”

Rumors of Ballerini and Stokes dating began swirling in January when the pair was spotted spending time together at the College Football Playoff National Championship in Los Angeles. One month later, Ballerini dropped a 20-minute short film with her Rolling Up the Welcome Mat EP in which she detailed the devastation of her divorce from fellow country star Morgan Evans. Ballerini made an expanded version of the EP titled Rolling Up the Welcome Mat (For Good), which was released Friday.

“This record is about a chapter of my life that is no longer mine, and so I think being able to honor it through music is really beautiful and bookmark it and preserve it, because I’ve learned a lot and I think its valuable, but I don’t want to keep harping on the past. It’s the past. I’m moving forward,” Ballerini told Today of the release.

As for what’s on the horizon for the country star, she’ll be celebrating her 30th birthday on Sept. 12 and will be using the milestone to relax: “I’m about to turn 30 and I’m excited to take a little bit of time off and go celebrate with my friends and my family and hang with my dog, and really dig my heels into my real life a little bit and live a life to write about.”

For Ballerini’s Today performance, she hit the stage to play “Blindsided,” which also appears on the project.

See Ballerini talk about her relationship with Stokes and Rolling Up the Welcome Mat (For Good) in the video above.