Cassadee Pope met actor/new boyfriend Sam Palladio years ago at a CMA Awards afterparty, but the couple didn't start dating until late 2017. They've really hit it off, but she doesn't want to rush it.

“It was December of last year," Pope tells Taste of Country Nights radio, "where we decided we’d take our dogs to the dog park and hang out at the dog park and we hit it off ... for now."

"I don't know, it’s so new!" she adds.

Pope has a French bulldog named Cuppy, and Palladio has a whippet named River. The two pups also get along well, even though they're complete opposites Pope says.

The couple's relationship started five months after Pope and longtime boyfriend Rian Dawson announced they'd ended their engagement. She took some time for herself, she says, and toyed with a dating app called Raya that gave her a major confidence boost. Then she put it down. Pope, 28, had never really dated as an adult, because her last relationship started when she was just 18 years old.

“When you get out of a relationship you’re like ‘Will I ever find somebody again and you kind of think this irrational thought like, ‘I’m never gonna find anybody,'" the Season 3 winner of NBC's The Voice explains. The dating app was silly, but fun. More than anything, it felt good to be desired, Pope says.

The couple went Instagram official on March 25 with a cozy photo taken at Maren Morris' wedding the day before. Anyone who has followed Pope on Instagram has seen Palladio pop up in her stories, though, and he also teased a possible 'thing' between them by sharing a photo of them wearing the same jacket.

Cassadee Says Her New Song Helped Her "Escape the Sadness"

Pope has new music set to drop on Friday. "Take You Home" is her new single, released just days before she'll return to The Voice as an advisor for Kelly Clarkson's team. Find more details on new music — and how her relationships have inspired it — on ToC this week.

Listen to Cassadee Pope Talk to Taste of Country Nights: 

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