Kelsea Ballerini co-hosted the 2023 CMT Music Awards April 2 and brought a special date, Chase Stokes, with her.
The big night marked the couple's first red carpet appearance together, just a month after Stokes publicly confirmed their relationship on TODAY, finally settling months of dating rumors that began floating around as the two posted about each other on social media for months.
They dazzled on an aqua carpet — the event's version of a red carpet — with the actor sporting a black shirt and pants set and the singer wearing a long, gray dress.
The couple showed some PDA on the carpet, hugging and holding each other as they posed for pictures.
When Stokes confirmed the relationship to TODAY, co-host Sheinelle Jones and the "Outer Banks" star were chatting about the lineup for the upcoming "Saturday Night Live."
"Kelsea Ballerini, she'll be taking the stage," Sheinelle said. "Going out on a limb here, are you a fan?"
"Absolutely, I'm a fan," the actor said without hesitation. "Who isn't a fan?"
"For those of you who don't know, they're dating," Sheinelle filled in.
The actor nodded in agreement with a slight smile on his face.
Before that moment, the couple fueled the fire of dating rumors with social media posts together and comments on each other's posts.
Three weeks ago, Stokes posted a picture of Ballerini in a fire red dress sitting on his lap in a dressing room. In January, he shared a picture of himself and Ballerini together at a college football game.
Previously, the singer was married to Morgan Evans, but the two divorced last year. Stokes had formerly dated his "Outer Banks" co-star Madelyn Cline.
On April 3, he posted a picture on his Instagram story of his partner, his “Outer Banks” co-star Madison Bailey and a woman who appears to be his mom.
"My ladies <3," he captioned the picture of the trio sitting outside under an umbrella.
Season Three of "Outer Banks" premiered Feb. 23 on Netflix. Ballerini's new album, "Subject to Change," dropped last September.
