Alright, Bachelor Nation, you can all relax now! Former Bachelorette Kaitlyn Bristowe and her winner-turned-fiancé Shawn Booth have been engaged for three years now, but they still haven’t set a wedding date. After Kaitlyn left for a month-long trip, shared some cryptic posts, and started hiding her ring, fans thought there may have been a secret breakup.

But on Aug. 16 she set the record straight on her Off The Vine podcast, and insisted that they’re “110 percent committed to each other and, yes, we are still together.” See how she clapped back at each of the fan theories, below! 

Kaitlyn has been going ringless lately.

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Sweatin and swimmin for the next 4 weeks ☀️

A post shared by Kaitlyn Bristowe (@kaitlynbristowe) on

One of the biggest reasons fans thought there might be trouble in paradise was the fact that Kaitlyn hasn’t been wearing her ring in her recent Instagram photos. Fans constantly badgered her about it with questions like: “WHERE IS THE RING ???,” “Are you hiding your ring?!” Where’s your RING,” and “The ring’s missing we need answers!”  

Kaitlyn acknowledged that she sees why fans thought it was odd. “To be honest, I didn’t think I would have to do this but also I shouldn’t be surprised. I was on a reality show that showed me getting engaged to somebody. [People] will become invested in us and our love story,” she said on the show. “I haven’t been wearing my engagement ring and not even noticing myself people have pointed out that I apparently haven’t been liking his photos on Instagram.” 

However, Kaitlyn kind of gave an answer as to why she might not be wearing it back in June. “I feel like we are going backwards!” she told Us Weekly. “We’ve talked about him re-proposing, because sometimes I don’t even want to wear a ring anymore ’cause I want him to have it just so he can surprise me. So yeah, I’ve thought about giving the ring back to Shawn so that he could use it to propose when the time comes, and we can start wedding planning when we feel that it’s that time.” 

While Kait and Shawn have been engaged for three years, they’ve only know each other for about the same amount of time. It’s not weird for a couple to wait that long to get married, if you think about it that way. Though she didn’t admit it, maybe she gave the ring back to him after all! 

She’s on a month-long trip away from home.

Kaitlyn continued to ignite concerns with her followers when she posted on Aug. 1 that she was leaving home to visit family in Canada for a month. “I seriously cannot stand being away from my wittle doodle noodle this trip. ?,” she wrote in the caption of an Instagram with her dog. “I know I’ll see him in four weeks but that’s TOO LONG to be without him.” 

Though Kaitlyn didn’t mention Shawn, this fan read between the lines: “U won’t be seeing Shawn for four weeks? Eeeekkkk,” they wrote. Another chimed in with the same thought, writing, “Why can’t him and Shawn come visit you? Are the banned from Canada?”

Well, she explained that on the podcast too! “So here’s the truth. I’m in Canada because every single year I have made a promise to myself and my family that I will come up every August and enjoy downtime with the people that I love in a country that I love,” she explained. “Family is so important to me. Relationships in general are very important to me. I put relationships first. Shawn did not come up with me because the guy just bought a gym. He bought a business. He has started something huge. He is the most dedicated person I’ve ever met. He’s gonna have to be there for months … We are both so busy and unfortunately that means we’re spending all of this time apart.” 

She’s posted some pretty cryptic things lately.

Many of Kaitlyn’s posts seemed to e centered around toxic people, bad relationships, and anxiety lately. On July 27, she tweeted, “If I’m being honest… I’ve been struggling lately with anxiety. It wakes me up in the middle of the night. Besides focusing on breathing, or meditating, (I already do those things), what are some all natural ways you calm yourself down?” This lead fans to question if everything was okay with Shawn. 

kaitlyn-shawn

(Credit: Instagram Stories)

Then there was a post she shared on Insta Stories saying, “at the end of the day, if someone cannot meet you where you are, you cannot keep asking them to do so. If someone cannot reciprocate your love, if someone cannot give you what you truly deserve… aching for them to do so before they’re ready is self-desructive.” Many fans speculated that she wants to move forward with her relationship and “have kids” but Shawn just isn’t there yet. 

On July 31 she said she liked this quote she heard on Ryan Seacrest: “if they need you temporarily, ignore them permenantly.” Of course, there’s no indication that this is about Shawn, but fans immediately jumped to that conclusion. 

She admitted on her podcast that things might get “tough” sometimes, bu that doesn’t mean she’s jumping ship! “If you’ve ever been a person who is running a successful brand or business and a person who is doing the same but in a different career path you know times can be tough,” she said. “You are both always away, you’re exhausted at the end of the day, sometimes the relationship isn’t being put first, but does that mean you call it quits? No. You love the sh-t out of each other and you work through it — and yourselves to be better. And you know that times aren’t always going to be smooth sailing. You just have to get through those hurdles and enjoy the good times.”  

But recently Kait gushed about her hubby.

While things on social media might seem bad, Kaitlyn has only ever said wonderful things about her man. In May, she proved just how head-over-heels she still is for Shawn. “Three years ago we were on a show that has the most extravagant dates, allows people to travel the world, and makes you fall in love in perfect settings,” she wrote. “But the truth is I fell in love even harder after all of that was gone. We have traveled, created so many memories and traditions, with whatever setting we are in. I love you Shawn B.”

Shawn has also shared a pic with Kaitlyn recently, and the couple seemed fine when they took over E!’s Instagram on July 23, so we can all stop worrying now, guys! 

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