One of Kelsea Ballerini's early days of her career still haunts her. The Knoxville native unintentionally appeared on the Bravo reality TV show, Southern Charm, where she bid on a date with the show's star, Craig Conover. More than a decade later, it's still a memory that makes Ballerini cringe.
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"It haunts me forever ... I have to tell this story, to clear this up," Ballerini says on Cosmopolitan's Cheap Shots. "I was on a radio tour, and I was doing a show for the radio station on a boat. They were filming Southern Charm on the boat, and I didn't know that. So I was just there playing 'Love Me Like You Mean It' ... Little did I know, my label had set up the fact that I was going to bid on a date. "
Ballerini doubles down on insisting that she had no idea she was even going to be on the TV show, let alone seemingly trying to secure a date with Conover.
"I didn't know," she adds. "I get pushed into frame, bid it, got the date. They auctioned it off on the radio station for charity."
" data-instgrm-version="14" style="background:#FFF;border:0;border-radius:3px;margin: 1px;max-width:540px;min-width:326px;padding:0;width:99.375%;width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px);width:calc(100% - 2px)">Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes
Two years after that ill-fated TV show appearance, Ballerini began dating Morgan Evans. They got married in 2017, splitting five years later, in 2022. Two years ago, Ballerini began dating another TV star, namely Outer Banks' Chase Stokes, after sliding into his DMs.
"Two years of catching each other in countless cities, perfecting a chimichurri steak, and creating a world that revolves around dogs. Love you so, teammate," Ballerini shared on social media on their anniversary.
Stokes also wrote a sweet message for Ballerini as well.
"2 laps around the sun with you," Stokes wrote. "I love you kb (especially when you laugh so hard you wheeze, and 8 am dance routines to your toothbrush)."
For Ballerini, being with Stokes is a match made in Heaven.
"We are both very much so golden-retriever energy most of the time, but we both have a little bite in us, and we're both incredibly driven," Ballerini tells Nylon. "He is the first person I've been in a relationship with that I feel like is not my complete opposite."
