Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes know how to bring out the best in each other.
“We always say, I want to make him feel like a superhero, and vice versa,” Ballerini told Jenna Bush Hager as she appeared as a guest co-host on TODAY with Jenna & Friends on Jan. 27.
Ballerini, 31, and “Outer Banks” star Stokes, 32, have been together for two years, and they have found ways of supporting each other’s busy careers.
“Whenever we go into me starting a tour, and he had a film come out last week and another one coming out next week, it’s like, all right, superhero time,” the “Love Me Like You Mean It” singer said. “What can I do to make you feel like you have the gas behind you?”
Ballerini said she likes how actor Brenda Song recently describedher relationship with her partner, Macaulay Culkin, and how she said being with Culkin made her a “bigger person.”
“I often hear, ‘They make me a better person.’ I like ‘bigger,’” Ballerini said. “I feel like when you get into a relationship when you’re really ready for it, you’re already better. You should be a really healthy, good, whole version of yourself going into it.
“In my relationship, what I’ve learned the most is the way you can mirror someone, like when you really allow yourself to be fully yourself with your partner, it really is a mirror system, and you can help each other know each other better,” she continued.
Ballerini co-hosting TODAY with Jenna & Friends was a full-circle moment for the couple, because Stokes first exclusively confirmed on TODAY that he and Ballerini were dating.
Back in March 2023, Sheinelle Jones asked Stokes about his rumored romance with Ballerini after photos of the pair sparked speculation on social media.
“Right across the street, on ‘SNL,’ we have a pretty good show planned for tomorrow night,” Sheinelle said. “Kelsea Ballerini, she’ll be taking the stage. Going out on a limb here — are you a fan?”
“Absolutely I’m a fan. Yeah, who isn’t a fan?” Stokes replied.
“For those of you who don’t know, they’re … dating?” Sheinelle said, to which Stokes smiled and said, “Mhm.”
In a post marking their anniversary earlier this month, Ballerini called Stokes her “teammate.”
“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,” she wrote on Instagram on Jan. 7.
Stokes also gushed about his love for Ballerini on Instagram.