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Cole Schafer and Kacey Musgraves attend The 2022 Met Gala Celebrating “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 02, 2022 in New York City

Kacey Musgravesand Cole Schafer have gone their separate ways.

After reportedly splitting in November 2023, Musgravesconfirmed their break upin March 2024 during an interview withThe Cut. “I don’t regret living and loving as hard as I do,” she told the outlet. “Whenever I’m in a relationship, I’m all f—ing in.”

Schafer and the “High Horse” singer werefirst spottedtogether in June 2021 — about a year after Musgraves announced herdivorce from Ruston Kelly.

During their years together, Musgraves and Schafer were very open about their romance, something the singer toldTimewas on purpose.

“I’mproud of the love that I have. I’m very happy,” she said in March 2022. “It’s natural to want to share that. And I don’t want to come across like a robot — I think people like me because I share who I am.”

So, who is the Grammy-winning singer’s ex-boyfriend? Keep reading to learn more about Cole Schafer.

He and Musgraves had a “meet-cute”

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Kacey Musgraves (L) and Cole Schafer attend an after party for the 2022 Met Gala Celebrating “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” at Zero Bond on May 02, 2022 in New York City

Musgraves and Schafer met when they happened to lock eyes in a crowded restaurant. The singer revealed thatSchafer didn’t know who she waswhen they first met, which made her like him even more.

“He did not know who I was, which I loved,” she told theNew York Times.

He’s a writer

Kacey Musgraves Instagram

Kacey Musgraves and Cole Shchafer

While Schafer doesn’t regret his decision to be a writer, he admits to occasionally wrestling with it.

“I’ve written before that if I weren’t a writer, I’d be a Formula 1 driver or a tattoo artist or an abstract painter or a denim maker or a barista or a florist or a mechanic or a real estate tycoon or a hedge fund owner or a Green Beret or a podcast host or a sushi chef or a master distiller or, hell, maybe even a sommelier,” he wrote in June 2022blog post. “I’m not any of these things, of course. I’m a writer. But, because I’ve chosen to be a writer, I’ve also chosen not to be everything else I’ve listed out up above. I think this is the pain that Jonathan Safran Foer was describing when he wrote, ‘Sometimes I can hear my bones straining under the weight of all the lives I’m not living.’ "

He’s based in Nashville

Kacey Musgraves and Cole Shchafer

Schafer lives in Nashville, per hisLinkedIn bio. Musgraves previously revealed on Instagram that Schafer isoriginally from southern Indiana.

He is a proud dog dad

Cole Schafer Instagram

Kacey Musgraves and Cole Shchafer

Schafer occasionally posts photos of his dog, June, on Instagram. Alongside a photo ofJune as a puppy, he wrote, “Another picture of my s’mores-Klondike-panda-skunk who I adore (and who has also been a slight nightmare to raise and is causing me to rethink ever having children).”

He wrote poetry about Musgraves

Kacey Musgraves and Cole Shchafer

In a June 2022Instagram post, Schafer shared excerpts from his book,Guillotine, including at least one poem that appeared to be about Musgraves. The poem read: “There is a polaroid of her / on the dashboard of my ‘89 Range Rover; / a polaroid where she’s bending the wind / with an oriental fan; / as she gazes over her left shoulder, / her eyes devouring something the camera cannot see.”

In August 2021, Schaferposted a photo(since deleted) of a Polaroid of Musgraves holding a fan peering over her shoulder.

He supported Musgraves’ career

Kacey Musgraves and Cole Shchafer

Schafer loved honoring Musgraves' career wins. In February 2022, he posted a carousel ofblack-and-white photoson Instagram from backstage at Madison Square Garden, where Musgraves played a sold-out show on Feb. 7. He called the night “a big f—king deal, a bigger deal than I think her modesty will allow her to wrap her head around.”

Schafer described Musgraves as “the most naturally gifted human” he’s ever been around and admired her lack of visible nerves before performing, as well as her character as a person offstage.

He has hobbies outside his work as a writer

Though writing is his main passion, Musgraves documented Schafer engaging in a slew of other activities. On his 28th birthday, the singer pennedtouching tributesto Schafer on Instagram, complimenting him on his various attributes and skills, which include playing guitar and cooking well enough to “turn [Musgraves] on.”

He and Musgraves founded a charity ball

In December 2021, Schafer and Musgraves hosted the inaugural Teddy Bear Ball in Nashville to raise money for the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. The pair partnered with Build-A-Bear to donate funds and over 300 teddy bears to the hospital.

Musgraves also shared photos from the gala onInstagram, including one sweet shot of her and Schafer posing with teddy bears at the event, where she performed alongside her frequent collaboratorDaniel Tashianand his band The Silver Seas.

source: people.com