Brandon Jones and Serene Russell.Photo: Stewart Cook/ABC via Getty
It’s over for aBachelor in Paradisefan-favorite couple.
Serene RussellandBrandon Jones— whogot engaged during the season 8 finaleofBiP,which aired in November 2022 — announced their breakup in a joint Instagram post Monday evening.
“After many months, today we have ultimatelydecided to end our engagement,” Russell, 27, and Jones, 28, wrote in the caption.
“We have tried to work privately on our relationship which has been incredibly challenging in the public eye,” they continued. “This has been immensely hard to accept and painful, as there is a lot of love between the two of us.”
The pair concluded, “We are deeply hurting and can only ask that there be no hate. The best path for us at this time is to try and move forward and heal from this as individuals.”
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Fans were shocked to hear of the couple’s troubles and their split, particularly since they wereopen about their plans for marriagesoon after their engagement last fall.
Russell told PEOPLE in November that they were “really excited for wedding planning,” and revealed that they’d already settled on a timeline.
Despite the whirlwind of their relationship onBiP, Russell said that she felt confident saying “yes” to Jones' proposal.
“The fact that we were spending so much time together every day — I mean, it was a lot — we had a lot of time to have those conversations,” she told PEOPLE following the season finale. “I was at ease about an engagement, and that was something I’ve never expected in my life. I was more excited than nervous.”
Serene Russell and Brandon Jones.Craig Sjodin/ABC
The proposal itself was one of the season’s most emotional moments, with Jones telling Russell, “Serene, I love you and I will love you until the end of time. I will love you until my last breath and I want to start forever with you and that starts with making you my forever.”
Russell also shared her deep affection for her fiancéin the finale episode.
“You came into my life and showed me that your love is so much more than the love I had dreamt of all those years,” she told Jones. “I feel like we have two hearts cut from the same cloth and I have never felt more seen or understood in my entire life.”
Russell added, “In you, I found my best friend, my missing puzzle piece and my soulmate.”
Brandon Jones and Serene Russell.Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty
Since the season began airing, the couplehad been living togetherin San Diego.
“We jumped at the chance for that,” Russell said. “We’re like, no one is deciding how much time we spend together anymore. Not aftersplit week.”
Jones later told PEOPLE that itfelt “good” to “finally relax and be ourselves"after months of keeping their relationship a secret while the season was still airing.
“We were wearing wigs and everything like that, trying to sneak out to dinner and stuff,” he said of their time together before the finale. “So it’s been fun, it’s been exciting.”
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The pair had also been making time to integrate their families, having spentThanksgivingwith Russell’s family in Oklahoma andChristmaswith Jones' family in Oregon.
Jones said at the time that he and his fiancée were “enjoying the engagement” as they began stepping out for events publicly together for the first time.
source: people.com
