Kelsea Ballerini is throwing her hat back in the ring thanks to boyfriend Chase Stokes.
Stokes, 32 — who first sparked dating rumors with the country music star, 31, in January 2023 — stars in Ballerini’s “First Rodeo” music video, which she premiered on Wednesday, Oct. 16, ahead of the Oct. 25 release of her new album, Patterns.
The emotional video begins with Ballerini lying in the sand wearing a pale pink satin dress. She looks out into the water and starts singing the song’s first verse, which she says is about giving love a chance again.
“Listen, there’s a reality that an inner monologue post public breakup is, ‘I feel washed up on the heart front. I feel like I don’t know how to do this anymore,’ ” said Ballerini, who filed for divorce from her ex-husband Morgan Evans after nearly five years of marriage in August 2022, in a statement shared with PEOPLE.
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“But at the end of the day, choosing love is bigger, and the honesty of saying please take it slow and be patient with me can actually be a beautiful and connective moment. ‘First Rodeo’ encapsulates that conversation, and more so, that decision within self to be vulnerable and open and allowing the hope of it all to seep back in,” her statement continued.
As Ballerini begins to sing the song’s chorus in the music video, she is seen running into Stokes’ arms, and they share a sweet, long embrace.
With shots of her riding a carousel intertwined between scenes of the two holding hands and Stokes giving Ballerini a forehead kiss, she sings: “Thought I knew all of the ropes / Thought I could ride like a pro / Never knew I’d have a round two / I fell off, babe, but I found you / Take my heart, but take it slow / ’Cause this ain’t my first rodeo.”
The video continues with Ballerini singing at a beach on a pile of luggage and holding onto Stokes’ arms.
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It ends with the singer running on a boardwalk and riding off on a boat before arriving in a hotel room, where she begins to sip on a martini glass while watching a rodeo on a large screen.
“The visuals are meant to show the emotion, duality, feelings, and landscape of this record,” said Ballerini about the video. “But as much as it’s personal and my own art and life, it’s kind of at the point now that it turns into a shared relationship … where it becomes a different meaning to everyone.”
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