The sun has set on Brandon Jones and Serene Russell‘s paradise.
The Bachelor Nation stars have broken up and ended their engagement, they shared on May 8.
“We have tried to work privately on our relationship which has been incredibly challenging in the public eye,” they wrote in a joint statement on Instagram. “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.”
Brandon and Serene continued, “The best path for us at this time is to try and move forward and heal from this as individuals.”
News of the split comes five months after the pair got engaged on the season eight finale of Bachelor in Paradise. Brandon told Serene during his seaside proposal, “You are this everlasting spark that has hit me so hard and I’ve come to the realization that, from the moment I saw you, my happily ever after could have never started until I started a life with you.”