Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes spotted holding hands in Scotland 1 month after split

Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes were spotted getting close during their trip to Scotland just one month after their breakup.

A source reported the pair “were very much loved-up and holding hands” while out at Cannonball Restaurant & Bar near Scotland’s Edinburgh Castle recently, according to Us Weekly.

The insider added that Ballerini, 32, and Stokes, 33, “seemed like the sweetest people.”

Chase Stokes and Kelsea Ballerini backstage at the 60th Academy of Country Music Awards.
Chase Stokes and Kelsea Ballerini were spotted looking “very much loved-up” while out in Scotland one month after their breakup.Penske Media via Getty Images

Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes posing at Netflix Tudum 2025: The Live Event.
A source reported that the pair were holding hands while out at Cannonball Restaurant & Bar.Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Netflix
“He was very nice. We had a wee chat about how he was having a holiday in Scotland before going to Croatia to film the final season of ‘Outer Banks,’“ the source explained to the outlet of Stokes, who took photos with some fans during the getaway.

“They both seemed really happy and smiley,” they continued.

The two stars were later seen together once again in Dubrovnik, Croatia, on Friday.

Reps for Ballerini and Stokes did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.

Madelyn Cline and Chase Stokes in Outer Banks, Season 4, Episode 1.
The insider claimed Stokes told them that the actor was “having a holiday” in Scotland before he went to Croatia to film “Outer Banks.”©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection

Chase Stokes in a brown coat and Kelsea Ballerini in a black dress at the TIME100 Next event.
Ballerini and Stokes broke up in September after three years of dating.Getty Images for TIME
Stokes and Ballerini called it quits on their relationship after two years of dating in September.

“They’re two adults who gave it their all and tried to do everything they could to make it work, but ultimately couldn’t,” sources close to the couple told People at the time. “It happens.”

“It was a hard split,” another source told Us Weekly. “They had been arguing a lot recently, and their communication wasn’t great in the last month. They were both traveling so much and trying to juggle everything, and the arguments piled up.”

The split came just two days after Stokes wished Ballerini a happy 32nd birthday on Instagram.

Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes posing together at the Variety Power of Women Nashville event.
“They’re two adults who gave it their all and tried to do everything they could to make it work, but ultimately couldn’t,” sources said of the split at the time.Variety via Getty Images

Chase Stokes and Kelsea Ballerini walking and holding hands.
Stokes and Ballerini started dating in January 2023.GC Images
“Although you keep saying you’re not excited for 32, id say I’m lookin forward to more of this,” he wrote alongside happy pics of the two spending time together.

“Happy birthday my love ❤️,” he added.

The pair have been dating since January 2023. The duo became a rumored item after Stokes posted a photo of the two on Instagram looking close while watching the National College Football Championship together.

Kelsea Ballerini Gets Candid About Wanting to Be a Mom in New Song ‘I Sit in Parks’

The country star sings about being worried she’s run out of time to start a family on her newest song

Kelsea Ballerini

Kelsea Ballerini.Credit : 

Patrick Tracy

Kelsea Ballerini is getting personal on her newest EP.

On Friday, Nov. 7, the country singer, 32, dropped her newest song “I Sit in Parks” after announcing a surprise EP that drops next week. In the song, Ballerini gets candid about what her life might’ve looked like if she hadn’t pursued a music career.

“Dad brought the picnic / Mom brought the sunscreen / Two kids are laughing and crying on red swings,” Ballerini sings. “We look about the same age / But we don’t have the same Saturdays.”

“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?” she continues on the song, candidly asking if she’s run out of time to have a family.

“I did the damn tour / It’s what I wanted, what I got / I spun around and then I stopped / And wonder if I missed the mark,” Ballerini sings, later adding, “I wonder if she wants my freedom / Like I want to be a mother.”

Ballerini’s new six-track EP titled Mount Pleasant will drop on Friday, Nov. 14. The musician was also nominated on Friday morning for Best Contemporary Country Album at the 2026 Grammys for her most recent album, Patterns.

Kelsea Ballerini

Kelsea Ballerini’s Mount Pleasant.Patrick Tracy

In the past, Ballerini has shared that she wasn’t always ready to become a mom. During a 2023 episode of Call Her Daddy, the country star shared that the breaking point of her nearly five-year long marriage to fellow country artist Morgan Evans was realizing that she “wasn’t ready for kids,” while Evans, now 40, was eager to become a father.

“That was something that we had talked about early on, and that was something that I was changing on,” she explained to host Alex Cooper. ”Cause he was ready. He was like, ‘I don’t want to be an old dad,’ is what he kept saying. And I was like, ‘I’m not there yet, and I can’t do that to save this and give you something that I’m not ready for.’”

Ballerini recalled visiting her doctor to look into freezing her eggs — and not telling Evans about the trip. She eventually took him to dinner and said she wanted to freeze her eggs when she turned 30, which was still a year and a half out.

“It was not a good day,” she said on the podcast. “And I think that was when I was like, there’s a fundamental difference here that has happened, that has shifted. And it’s no longer like, I don’t see this person, I miss this person, I’m alone, I’m lonely. It’s like, he wants something out of life… [and] I’m not there.”

She continued: “And whether I’ll get there or not, I don’t think it’s with this person if it is. And I think internally in hindsight, that’s where I went like, ‘I think maybe we need to rethink this, Kels.’”

Ballerini went on to say that the egg-freezing conversation confirmed to her that she and Evans were “on different pages.” She eventually filed for divorce in August 2022. Their split was finalized in November 2022.

The singer went on to date actor Chase Stokes for three years before splitting this past September. A rep for Ballerini confirmed to PEOPLE that the “Cowboys Cry Too” artist and the Outer Banks star, 33, went their separate ways after three years together.

Sources close to the couple told PEOPLE exclusively, “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.”