Not quite paradise. Kendall Long wasn’t exactly prepared for her recent split from Joe Amabile.
Nearly two weeks after the Bachelor in Paradise alums confirmed they were calling it quits, Long, 27, broke her silence on the breakup during an episode of her “Down to Date” podcast. She teased her “vulnerable” discussion with her best friend Rachael Kevin on Instagram, thanking her pal for being by her side during the tough conversation.
“I did not see it coming,” the reality TV personality admitted. “Every relationship has issues but I feel like — with Joe and I — we were best friends. Everything was fun, we were getting a dog together. We had just moved in … Ultimately what happened was that Joe felt like he would have a better [life] in Chicago.”
While Long admitted that moving to the Windy City wasn’t something that she wanted, she made a point of saying “there’s still a lot of love and respect” between her and her 32-year-old ex. The creative director revealed, however, that the Dancing With the Stars alum hadn’t expressed his desire to move to Chicago before the pair agreed to sign a lease together in Los Angeles.
“I was thinking, ‘We have a year with the lease.’ That was the timeline for me,” Long said. “In no way can I ever be upset with him and have [resentment] toward him changing his mind and choosing to move because I understand the stresses of living somewhere like L.A. away from your family. That was also a huge reason why I didn’t see myself moving from L.A. at least at that point in my life.”
When the Bachelor in Paradise couple announced their decision to go their separate ways in January, the twosome explained that “family and friends have always been an extremely important element to who we are as people” and that they “can’t imagine continuing our lives without them closer.”
Despite their amicable statement, the California native admitted that it still stung to end things with the Bachelorette alum because she had high hopes for their future.
“I thought Joe and I were going to literally be married,” she told her friend. “If anyone knows me, I’m not the person that plans my wedding and I was literally doing that with Joe. But something weird about ending something with some that you thought you were going to marry [is] you almost feel like you have such a better idea of what you’re looking for.”
