Kelsea Ballerini Was Nervous Before First Date With Chase Stokes — She’s Got Proof [Watch]
Kelsea Ballerini's new song "How Do I Do This" admits to a healthy dose of nerves before her first first date since divorce. The details of the song -- from the jitters to the outfit to the best friend cheering her on -- come straight from the singer's real life: She's got the receipts!
On TikTok, Ballerini shared a throwback from her first date with her actor boyfriend Chase Stokes, posting an outfit check video that she sent to her best friend before the night out.
"Here's the look. With the boots," Ballerini says nervously in the clip, filming herself in a mirror as she turns around to show off the full outfit. "We've got the hair in a clip because we're trying to be [a] cool girl. He's picking up and we're going to a sushi place. And I'll call you tomorrow with a full update."
Though she looks polished and put together, Ballerini makes it clear she's feeling a little antsy about going out with someone new. "I can do this. I can do this. It's just a date," she says, striking a few goofy poses in the mirror to undercut her anxiety.
"You just go and you just eat food and you talk about things that you do," she concludes before signing off.
Ballerini's date with Stokes must've gone pretty well, because they're now a couple, marking the singer's first relationship since her divorce from fellow country artist Morgan Evans in 2022. But Ballerini was in her early 20s when she and Evans started dating, meaning that after their split, it had been quite a few years since she went out on a first date with someone -- and that's got to be a little nerve-wracking, no matter how well it plays out.
Ballerini documented her journey through divorce, heartache and healing in her early-2023 EP Rolling Up the Welcome Mat, and earlier this month, she extended the story with a deluxe edition that included lyrical changes and modifications to some of the songs as well as the addition of "How Do I Do This."
That track serves as a kind of bridge between Ballerini's breakup story and her next chapter, documenting all the butterflies and insecurities she felt before re-entering the dating pool. "I talk a big game that I'm scared of losing / Everything I know about love is ruined / It's so confusing / So how do, how do I do this?" she wonders in the chorus of the song.