Bachelor in Paradise's Brandon and Serene split after five-month engagement

09 May 2023 , 11:32

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Brandon and Serene have called time on their relationship (Image: ABC via Getty Images)

Bachelor Nation stars Brandon Jones and Serene Russell have called time on their relationship.

The reality stars met and quickly fell for each other on Bachelor in Paradise in September 2022 and Brandon proposed to Serene in the season eight finale.

But now the couple have revealed they've ended their engagement in a joint statement posted on Instagram.

"We have tried to work privately on our relationship which has been incredibly challenging in the public eye," they wrote.

"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.

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"The best path for us at this time is to try and move forward and heal from this as individuals."

Brandon proposes to Serene on Bachelor in Paradise (ABC)

The split news comes five months after the couple got engaged on the season finale of Bachelor in Paradise.

"Brandon, I have always yearned for a life-changing love, but I had never seen it or experienced it firsthand. But then I met you," Serene said during the November finale in Mexico.

"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.

"In you, I have found my best friend, my missing puzzle piece and my soulmate. I love you so much and I’m never going to take that for granted."

After Brandon proposed, Serene told Us Weekly : "I mean, there’s always that nervous feeling, like you said, where it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh,’ because when you start to care so much and love someone so much, you obviously have that pit feeling where you’re like, ‘I hope that this works out’ — you want it to because it means so much. But I didn’t have any doubts."

They enjoyed a whirlwind relationship on the show (ABC)

After their whirlwind relationship on-screen, Brandon admitted that their relationship suffered "growing pains" in the real world.

"We went straight from seeing each other 20 hours a day to staying inside and couldn’t be with each other," Brandon said.

He admitted that they "bicker" sometimes and "fight" like other "normal" couples.

After the show, Serene planned to move to San Diego to be with Brandon, but it wasn't meant to be.

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