Susie Evans says her relationship status is “complicated” amid rumors of a split between her and boyfriend Justin Glaze.
Former Bachelor contestant, 30, told PEOPLE at the 73rd annual Miss USA pageant in Los Angeles on Aug. 4 that she and Glaze, 30, “started out as friends, so the most important thing for us was to respect each other, love each other through whatever our relationship becomes, and that’s something we decided even before we ever went out that friendship came first.”
“We have a high opinion of each other, we respect each other. So that’s the first plan of everything,” she said.
Clayton Echard ‘really happy’ for ex Susie Evans amid relationship with Justin Glaze as they are ‘much more compatible’
Evans – who previously dated Bachelor Clayton Echard – noted that going from friends to lovers with Glaze was “so complicated”.
“I feel like in all my past relationships, except for the times when people have done something horrible to you, it’s so hard because you want to be friends but, obviously, you love the person,” she explained. “So again, it comes down to setting boundaries for yourself, or for your relationship with that person, or with the public or whatever.”
Susie Evans at the 73rd Annual Miss USA Pageant at the Peacock Theater on August 4, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
Monica Schipper/Getty
Rumors of the couple’s split were sparked when Ben Higgins and Ashley Iaconetti speculated about their relationship Almost famous podcast last month.
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Evans admitted she “totally” understands the speculation, saying, “I feel like people are going to have questions about our career. I totally get it. And their podcast topic is like hot topics in Bachelor Nation, so I totally understand them speculating. It’s really confusing because Justin and I haven’t said anything publicly. So that’s something that I think is bound to happen when you’re in a public relationship.”
She added that she was deliberately coy about their relationship status.
“At some point it’s important to set boundaries for yourself, for your partner, for your relationship…” she shared. “I think we’re just kind of keeping things more private, obviously more private than usual, while we figure things out for ourselves, either individually or together.”
Susie Evans and Justin Glaze.
Vivien Killilea/Getty
Clayton Echard and Susie Evans Relationship Timeline
Evans’ comments come six months after she confirmed her relationship with Glaze to E! News, saying, “Justin is my boyfriend. We’re dating.”
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At the time, they admitted that they initially kept their relationship private after sharing their love lives with Bachelor Nation.
“We’ve always just kind of wanted to protect our privacy, which sounds funny to say because we were going on a show where our romantic relationships are far from private,” Gaze said. “But we just wanted to protect our peace, control our story and not put any pressure on our relationship.”
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Source: HIS Education