How Chase Stokes Responded To Question About Future With Kelsea Ballerini

Chase Stokes shared why he believes his relationship with country star Kelsea Ballerini works so well.

The Uglies actor met with Hoda Kotb on the TODAY Show on Thursday (October 3) to talk about the fourth season of Outer Banks , how his mom’s support helped him build his career, and the phrase they say that has “served us really well.”

“I truthfully think, you know, when you find somebody who’s not just somebody you love and adore, but is also your best friend, you’ve kind of got the best of both worlds,” Stokes said when Kotb asked what it is about Ballerini that makes the relationship work. “And she’s not just a great person, but everything that you see, whether it be on social media, or when she’s on stage, is exactly the person she is when she’s not doing those things. And just, (I) just adore the girl. I really do.”

Kotb wanted to know how Stokes pictures life five to ten years down the road? Rather than cast a prediction, he shared the mantra he and Ballerini have that works for them.

“You know, we have a saying in our house. It’s, ‘let’s do the next right thing.’ And that’s served us really well in this time and has served us well in the past, almost two years,” he replied. “And that’s kind of where we’re at, the next right thing. ...It’s been a year of a lot of wins,” he added, referencing his own work and Ballerini’s. She’s getting ready to release her new studio album, Patterns , on October 25 . “So, it’s just been nice to have somebody by your side who kelps you kind of sustain the wave.”

Stokes and Ballerini began talking when she slid into his DMs on Instagram in December 2022. Dating rumors began the following month, when Stokes shared a photo of the couple sitting closely with one another at the College Football Playoff National Championship. Ballerini confirmed the budding relationship in an interview in February 2023. Stokes said in a recent interview with PEOPLE that they make spending time together a priority , even with busy schedules with his filming and her music. Ballerini thanked Stokes in an anniversary tribute to Stokes earlier this year “for making me write love songs.”