Kaitlyn Bristowe has chosen her side in Danielle Maltby and Michael Allio‘s split — and she’s making it known.
Bristowe, 37, appeared to weigh in on the breakup in the comments section of an Instagram post, according to screenshots obtained by the fan account @bachelornation.scoop. “So proud of her,” Bristowe wrote. “Not ok how it was handled.”
Allio, 39, confirmed on Monday, September 18, that he and Maltby, 37, who connected during season 8 of Bachelor in Paradise last year, called it quits. After weeks of speculation about their status, the breakup announcement came on an episode of the “Trading Secrets” podcast, hosted by Bristowe’s ex-fiancé Jason Tartick.
“It’s not what we planned. We both threw a lot into this relationship and it’s really awful when it doesn’t work out,” Allio alleged, hinting that he and Maltby simply weren’t compatible as a couple. “[The] last couple months have been really tough.”
Maltby, for her part, offered a different take on their split via her Instagram Story on Friday, September 22. “This breakup was not a mutual decision arriving at some perception of incompatibilities,” she wrote. “However, I do hope the best for Michael, and I will always have [his son] James in my heart as we move forward separately.”
Noting that she’s had an “extremely difficult and painful” few months, Maltby assured fans that she still felt “hopeful” about her future.
During the Friday episode of her “The WoMed” podcast, Maltby shared more of the nitty-gritty details of what led to her split from Allio. She claimed that she was dumped unexpectedly — just one day after she underwent a retrieval to freeze her eggs.
“Obviously, [I’m] still very emotional and hurt and confused,” she said. “I still don’t really have any answers. I’m in it.”
Maltby recalled feeling like she was in “complete physical shock” as she recovered from her operation. “I was completely blindsided,” she continued, clarifying that the breakup actually happened around two and a half months ago. “I’m grieving the loss of him. I’m grieving the loss of the future that I really believed in and I’m grieving the loss of James. And I’m grieving the loss of safety that I felt with him for the first time.”
Grief was a large part of what brought Maltby and Allio together. Allio’s wife, Laura, died from cancer in 2019, while Maltby’s fiancé, Nick, died of a drug overdose in 2011.
The now-exes didn’t get engaged on BiP, but they continued to date when cameras stopped rolling. Maltby even moved from Nashville to Cleveland in order to be closer to Allio and his son.
While recounting her breakup on Friday, Maltby told podcast listeners that it was “really hard” to look back on her egg freezing journey, which should have been a happy one. “I was so proud of myself [in that moment]. Michael took great care of me. It was a very love-filled weekend,” she said. “I was able to freeze eight eggs. Which now I am just incredibly grateful for, as now I am alone. That takes a lot of pressure off because the future is extremely uncertain right now.”
