Chase Stokes celebrates Kelsea Ballerini’s 30th birthday with tribute

The couple have been linked since January

Chase Stokes has celebrated girlfriend and country star Kelsea Ballerini’s 30th birthday with a sweet Instagram tribute.

The “Blindsided” singer celebrated “dirty thirty” on Tuesday with Outer Banks star beau at the 2023 MTV VMAs. Following the awards ceremony, Stokes, 30, shared an Instagram carousel dedicated to Ballerini that included high-fashion moments as well as plenty of goofy snaps from his camera roll. The actor added videos of the couple singing together in the car, sharing a hug, and Ballerini donning a “30” tiara and surrounded by balloons.

The actor wrote in the post’s caption: “Dirty 30 looks pretty damn good on you Ballerini. I love you.”

“You really made 29. I love you Stokes,” the Grammy nominee replied in his comment section. Stokes’ Outer Banks costar Madison Bailey also shared her love for the cute couple, commenting, “Y’all are so [cute].”

Ballerini celebrated her 30th birthday ahead of time with a tropical vacation with her best gal pals, commemorating the trip in an Instagram carousel she posted to her feed on Sunday.

The Grammy-nominated star spent her birthday performing at the MTV Video Music Awards on Tuesday night. She took the stage toward the end of the award show to perform her ballad “Penthouse.” Ballerini performed to an outdoor crowd, accompanied by fog, lights, and string instrumentalists.

All the while, she wore a stunning white dress, which didn’t stay on for long. After singing the lyrics “And it stings rolling up the welcome mat/Knowing you got half,” the musician shocked the crowd with an instant outfit change into a black gown before her grand finale, wowing audiences.

The performance came after a lavish trip to the Venice Film Festival alongside Stokes and several actors, such as Riverdale’s Lili Reinhart and Cami Mendes, where they attended a Giorgio Armani party in matching all-black looks.

Stokes and Ballerini were first linked in January of this year, but it wasn’t until July that the singer opened up about their relationship in an interview with Stylecaster. “He’s also a Virgo, we’re very similar; we’re both Labrador Retrievers in human form,” she told the outlet. “It doesn’t take much conversation to be on the same page, which is nice. It’s been half a year, and it’s been great.”

When asked about Ballerini’s comments on the red carpet, Stokes joked to Entertainment Tonight that he’ll gladly “take the job” of Labrador Retriever boyfriend. He gushed to the outlet, saying that Ballerini is “the best human being on planet Earth”.

“She’s so damn talented,” he said. “Just to see her music and her shine in the ways that she is in recent times, it’s been beautiful.”

Last month, Ballerini posted to TikTok a video she sent to a friend before their first date, set to her new song “How Do I Do This.” In the video, she shows her friend her outfit choice and all the details. “Okay, here’s the look with the boots. We’ve got this hair clip, because we’re trying to be cool girl,” she said in the video. “He’s picking me up, and we’re going to a sushi place. I’ll call you tomorrow with the full update.”