Chase Stokes celebrates Kelsea Ballerini for EW's 2023 Entertainers of the Year: 'I'm so f---ing proud'

"She always tries to tell stories in a way that feels really truthful to her."

When Kelsea Ballerini quietly dropped her highly personal EP Rolling Up the Welcome Mat on February 14 of this year, she, unknowingly or not, took her career to another level. Thanks to its unflinchingly honest lyrics about her divorce, the EP quickly connected with fans. Cut to Ballerini taking the stage on Saturday Night Live, performing her new songs live on tour, and on August 11, releasing an extended version of the EP titled Rolling Up the Welcome Mat (For Good). By year's end, Ballerini headlined her biggest show yet in her hometown of Knoxville, Tenn., and scored both a CMA Awards nomination for Album of the Year and a Grammy nomination for Best Country Album.

To honor Ballerini as one of EW's 2023 Entertainers of the Year, we asked her significant other, Outer Banks star Chase Stokes, to reflect on her remarkable year.

Something Kelsea has really been good at since the beginning of her career is keeping her authenticity as a songwriter and really honoring and staying in that lane. She always tries to tell stories in a way that feels really truthful to her and it seems to resonate with the rest of the world and I think we saw that with Welcome Mat in particular, wearing her heart on her sleeve.

Before we even met, she sent me Welcome Mat and said, "I want you to listen to this because I want you to know who I am and I want you to have some clarity." And this was before she had any idea of how she was going to put it out, what her plan was, and watching it go from this idea into what it's become has been a wild journey. I went to a couple shows right after it had come out and she wasn't really playing any of the tracks and then watching it grow and grow and then sell out Thompson Boling Arena, it's been a really, really, really cool journey to watch her live her authentic self and tell a story that she felt like she needed to tell. That level of vulnerability and honesty has completely shifted her career.

In a day and age where everything is manipulated for likes and for social media growth, to see somebody who's growing in her career based on just being super true to herself and doing it in her own way is so rare. And it's so cool to see, especially for the younger generations. The same person that I sit down in the living room with and have dinner on the floor with and who makes me laugh is the exact same person you're seeing on stage. There is no filter.

Sometimes, especially in this industry, we just naturally put on a mask because it's scary to be vulnerable and to be soft with the world, and I think this year, in particular, she found that being soft and being present and being vulnerable has allowed her to grow and has allowed her to heal. It's allowed her acceptance, it's allowed her a little bit of calm throughout a storm in her life, and I've learned a lot from her in watching her stay soft. It's a really, really difficult thing in this industry when you've got so much going on all the time but I think she's been really proud of herself for keeping that softness and vulnerability.

She really just said, "Hey I want to do this for myself, this is my way of navigating a lot of big feelings about the situation that I was in" and to put [Rolling Up the Welcome Mat] out silently and not get radio play and for the world to really accept it in the way that they have is a testament to her the artistry. To be that person's partner and to watch all of this happen in front of my eyes has been so cool. Proud feels like a really lame way of saying it but I'm so f---ing proud. She's touched a lot of women who have been dealing with the same thing and to be a voice for those who didn't feel like they had a voice in that space, I think, should and will be one of the most proud moments of her career.

She literally is the best person on planet earth. Every day together is either a comedy show or a life talk that I didn't know I needed to have that ended up being something I'll never forget. I just love the girl to pieces and I'm so f----ing proud of her.

—As told to Samantha Highfill

More EW Entertainers of the Year 2023:

• EW celebrates "Barbenheimer"

• Gabrielle Union celebrates Beyoncé

• RuPaul celebrates Sasha Colby

• Rachel Sennott celebrates Ayo Edebiri

• James Marsden celebrates Jury Duty

• Brian Jordan Alvarez celebrates M3GAN

• Troy Baker celebrates Pedro Pascal

• Owenn celebrates Taylor Swift

• Matt Rogers celebrates Vanderpump Rules

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.