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Bachelor Nation’s Brandon Jones and Serene Russell Call of Their Engagement: ‘Hard to Accept’
It’s over. Bachelor in Paradise alums Brandon Jones and Serene Russell have called off their engagement.
“After many months, today we have ultimately decided to end our engagement. We have tried to work privately on our relationship which has been incredibly challenging in the public eye,” the couple shared in a joint statement posted via Instagram on Monday, May 8. “This has been immensely hard to accept and painful, as there is a lot of love between the two of us. We are deeply hurting and can only ask that there be no hate.”
The former couple, who got engaged following the show’s eighth season, concluded their statement by telling fans that this is “the best path for us at this time.” Going forward, the exes plan to “heal from this as individuals.”
During the 2022 season of Bachelor in Paradise, the former flames were known as one of the strongest couples on the beach, leaving Mexico as one of the two engaged pairings.
“I love you in every sense of the word. You are this ever-lasting spark that has hit me so hard and I have come to the beautiful realization that from the moment I saw you, my happily ever after could’ve never started until I started a life with you,” Brandon, who made his reality TV debut during Michelle Young‘s season of The Bachelorette, said during his romantic proposal. “I will love you until the end of the time. I will love you until my last breath.”
Serene, who was on Clayton Echard‘s Bachelor season, accepted and the duo started their life together after moving to San Diego.
“We’re still kind of trying to decide what kind of wedding we want,” Serene exclusively told Life & Style during an interview at the ESPN Allstate Party on January 7, teasing that their wedding was set to take place in 2024. At the time, the pair agreed that they planned to keep their nuptials a “secret” from the public.
Weeks later, the duo sparked split rumors in late January. However, Serene was quick to shut down any speculation about trouble in paradise during an Instagram Q & A.
“The account that started this rumor kept posting it on different mediums even after I set them straight. You can’t believe everything you read online because how would they know,” she shared in a January 29 Instagram Stories post. “These accounts be saying anything. Clout is a helluva drug.”
