Serene Russell opens up about what caused her engagement to Brandon Jones to end.
While Bachelor in Paradise stars announced their split in an Instagram post back in May, Russell, 28, first opened up about the breakup during a recent appearance on Kaitlyn Bristowe Off the Vine podcast.
“We both had things we could have done better in the relationship,” Russell said. “It’s something we were both still into, and we went to therapy, which was really cool.”
The TV personality added that since the beginning of their relationship, they had been given therapy and tried to prepare themselves for “success”, but “there were so many things going on in the end”.
Bachelor in Paradise Serena Russell and Brandon Jones break off engagement: ‘Extremely hard to accept’
One of the things that caused “irreparable damage” and from which there is “no return” is when a video Jones, 29, started appearing on the Internet with another woman.
“There was a part of me that was like, ‘Okay, I really love this person and I’ve been struggling with that for a really long time,'” she explained, before revealing the video had been sent to her by a stranger via direct message.
When she didn’t open the message, the stranger forwarded it to someone else who was on her season, who told her it was “something you should look into.”
Serena Russell and Brandon Jones on “Bachelor in Paradise.” Craig Sjodin/ABC via Getty
Although Russell said Jones apologized to her after the incident, it’s something she said is “hard to understand.”
“I spent so much time thinking and replaying things in my head. Like, does this make sense? Haven’t I seen things?” she told Bristowe, 38. “I think the most painful thing is that we were still very committed to each other.”
“I’ve never felt so depressed in my life,” Russell added later in their conversation. – It was difficult to deal with it.
PEOPLE has reached out to Jones for comment.
BiP’s Serene Russell and Brandon Jones Gush on Engaged Life as She Jokes ‘I’m Sick of the Word ‘Travel’
The former couple got engaged during the season 8 finale BiP, which aired in November 2022. Before Jones got down on one knee, Russell called him her “missing piece of the puzzle and my soulmate.”
“You came into my life and showed me that your love is much more than the love I dreamed about all those years,” she said. “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 piece of the puzzle, and my soulmate. I love you so much and I will never I won’t take it for granted.”
That same month, the former couple revealed to PEOPLE that they had already moved in together and shared that they were excited about their future.
“He’s going to show me around his city, meet some of his friends, things like that,” Jones told PEOPLE. “And I think at Christmas time our families will get together and then just spend Christmas together here.”
While they didn’t go into detail when they announced they were ending their engagement, they said their relationship in public had been “incredibly challenging”.
“This was extremely difficult to accept and painful, because there is a lot of love between the two of us. We are deeply hurt and can only ask that there is no hatred,” read part of the post. “The best path for us at this point is to try to move forward and heal from this as individuals.
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Bachelor in Paradise airs Thursdays at 9pm ET on ABC.
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Source: HIS Education