Trouble in paradise? Katie Morton and her fiancé, Chris Bukowski, gave a relationship status update in an exclusive interview with Us Weekly on Saturday, November 9.
Morton, 26, and Bukowski, 33, revealed to Us that they are still together — but they don’t mind keeping people guessing.
“It’s kind of great because people actually don’t know if we’re together or we’re not,” Bukowski said.
Morton added, “Yeah it’s kind of good sometimes to be that mystery where we’re just like, ‘Huh.’ It’s kind of, like, out of the spotlight a little bit. We’ve just took a break from it after Paradise cause it was very intense and we don’t feel the need to prove anything to anyone, which has been nice.”
Fans speculated that the pair had split after Bukowski didn’t attend the Live in the Vineyard festival in Napa, California, with Morton and six other former Bachelor in Paradise stars.
Jared Haibon posted a group photo with his wife Ashley Iaconetti, Morton, Joe Amabile, Kendall Long, Krystal Nielson and Chris Randone on Instagram on November 3, but Bukowski was noticeably absent.
However, Bukowski and Morton were spotted watching the LSU vs. Alabama game at Hyperion Public bar in Studio City, California, on Saturday. Morton and Bukowski documented their outing on Instagram. An onlooker told Us that they got cozy while watching the game.
“It was just the two of them cuddled up in a corner focusing on the game,” the source said. “They shared a kiss at the end of the game in celebration of LSU’s win.”
The couple got engaged during the Bachelor in Paradise season 6 finale, which aired in September. During the reunion show, Morton told host Chris Harrison that she and the sports bar owner’s relationship had taken a turn for the worse. The medical sales representative even took off her engagement ring.
“I’m usually really happy-go-lucky,” she told Harrison at the time. “I’m usually bouncing all over the place, and I feel like I’ve come to, like, a darkness, and I hate it.”
Despite their rough patch, Morton and Bukowski told fans on Instagram that they were still together and watched the reunion show in their hotel room.
Morton admitted to Us that their relationship after leaving Paradise was “tough at first.” Bukowski added, “Everyone always says like, ‘Oh, this should be the honeymoon phase and all that stuff.’ There’s a lot, like when you’re away from everyone for so long and then you’re engaged and you try to fit back into your regular life with families and stuff. It’s tough. It’s exciting, but at the same time it’s tough. But I think it’s getting better.”
The busy duo are currently in a long-distance relationship as they both frequently travel. Bukowski said that he and Morton use “a lot of FaceTime” to stay in touch. Morton told Us that spending time apart works well for them.
“I think we’re both the type of people that don’t want to be around each other every second of every single day, and so it’s almost like he just goes on little trips,” she said. “That’s how it feels. It feels like he lives here and goes on trips as opposed to living somewhere else and coming here. That’s how I think of it anyway.”
With reporting by Nicole Pajer
