Bachelor in Paradise star Whitney Fransway is breaking her silence about her breakup with costar Connor Saeli.
Us Weekly confirmed on Thursday, September 19, that the pair had gone their separate ways after two months of dating.
“Since I’m getting so many questions about Connor and I; Here ya go,” the pilates instructor, 28, captioned two Instagram photos of herself and the 25-year-old investment analyst on Sunday, September 22. “Connor and I really hit off at Paradise this year. We had an instant spark between us.”
After meeting while attending Paradise alums Chris Randone and Krystal Nielson’s June wedding, which aired during season 6, the pair had a convoluted start to their relationship, with Saeli leaving the Bachelor spinoff’s set in Mexico just as Fransway was arriving on the beach.
Upon learning he’d exited the show, she also decided to leave and showed up at his hotel room.
“This is amazing. I’m so happy,” the Dallas native told Fransway. “All I wanted was for you to come down and, like, go on a date. So, this is the best.”
Admitting that leaving the series “allowed us to explore that spark further,” the L.A. native wrote on Sunday about the difficulties of being in a long-distance relationship.
While Saeli attended the “After the Final Rose” taping in August and assured host Chris Harrison that they were still together, the couple were struggling.
“At the end of August, we started having more serious conversations about where we saw our relationship going,” Fransway admitted. “We have been nothing but honest in communicating our feelings throughout the relationship, but we came to a conclusion that it just wasn’t working right now. The connection we had wasn’t igniting as much as it did in the beginning.”
“I have grown to care for him very much and we have shared a lot of memories together in the past few months,” she concluded. “I will always have nothing but respect for him. We are still on good terms and ultimately, still have the foundation of a friendship. We have mutually decided this is the best decision for both of us. Thank you to everyone who was rooting for us and has been so so supportive. I appreciate it so very much. Love you all!”
