NEED TO KNOW
Are Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes back on?
Nearly two months after the country star, 32, and the Outer Banks actor, 33, broke up, an onlooker saw them at Kiba Smash Burger in Dubrovnik, Croatia, on Friday, Nov. 7.
“They were holding hands at the table and talking closely,” the onlooker tells PEOPLE of the on-off couple. “After they got up, they walked together hand in hand towards Old Town. They looked very cute.”
Reps for Ballerini and Stokes did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
On Sept. 14, a rep for Ballerini confirmed to PEOPLE that the two had split after nearly three years of dating.
“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,” a source told PEOPLE at the time.
The “Baggage” singer and the actor first sparked dating rumors in January 2023. After teasing their relationship, they went public while walking the red carpet at the CMT Awards in April 2023.
Their Croatia sighting comes the same day that Ballerini dropped her new song “I Sit in Parks,” which will be featured on her upcoming EP Mount Pleasant.
Patrick Tracy
In the song, Ballerini gets candid about what her life may have looked like if she had chosen a different path and didn’t pursue music.
“Dad brought the picnic / Mom brought the sunscreen / Two kids are laughing and crying on red swings,” she sings. “We look about the same age / But we don’t have the same Saturdays,” Ballerini sings. “Did I miss it? / By now is it / A lucid dream? Is it my fault / For chasing things a body clock / Doesn’t wait for?”
Mount Pleasant — which she announced earlier this week — will feature six brand-new tracks and is set for release on Friday, Nov. 14.
On Friday morning, Ballerini was nominated for Best Contemporary Country Album at the 2026 Grammys for her 2024 album Patterns, which in part was inspired by her relationship with Stokes. She’s up against Tyler Childers, Eric Church, Jelly Roll and Miranda Lambert.
