Everything Bachelor in Paradise’s Kendall Long and Joe Amabile Have Said About Their Split

Credit: AFF-USA/Shutterstock

Everything Bachelor in Paradise’s Kendall Long and Joe Amabile Have Said About Their Split

Not fully over? Kendall Long and Joe Amabile have appeared to stay on good terms following their January 2020 split — and at times have even sung each other’s praises while trying to move on. The TV personalities met while filming season 5 of Bachelor in Paradise in the summer of 2018. While they broke up on the beach, the twosome quickly reconnected outside of the show and continued to date. Their reunion was featured on the September 2018 BiP finale. “I feel like the one thing with Joe is that he’s just very honest and genuine and puts it all out there with who he is. He doesn’t really hold back,” Long told Us Weekly at the show’s finale taping one month prior. “That was the one thing that I really appreciated on Paradise. I just cracked up so hard.” Amabile echoed his then-girlfriend’s sentiments, telling Us, “I like when she gets mad and she puts that face on. We just like being together. It feels right.” Things appeared to be going well for the graphic designer and the grocery store worker as Amabile relocated to Los Angeles to compete on Dancing With the Stars. The pair announced in April 2019 that they signed a lease together less than one year into their relationship. [jwplayer 1DxqXE4K-zhNYySv2] However, the former couple surprised Bachelor Nation nine months later when they revealed they had split. The breakup had a lot to do with location — Amabile was moving back to Chicago — and Long was just as shocked by it as fans were. “If anyone knows me, I’m not the person that plans my wedding and I was literally doing that with Joe,” she said on her “Down to Date” podcast in February 2020, one month after the duo went their separate ways. “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.” The former flames have seemingly remained friends to some degree since their January 2020 breakup. Fans, however, began speculating in summer 2021 that they may rekindle their romance after both parties were announced as Bachelor in Paradise season 7 participants. “It worked for Joe last time, you know, he kind of fell for Kendall and yes, they had their ups and downs, but they were together post-show for a very long time,” Paradise bartender Wells Adams exclusively told Us ahead of the August premiere. “The show doesn’t work for everybody, but for the select few, it’s really, really beautiful. And so I think my concern with Joe coming back on was, it’s hard to recreate something — like, will lightning strike twice?” Scroll down to see what Long and Amabile have said about their split: [podcast_block]

Credit: AFF-USA/Shutterstock

Everything Bachelor in Paradise’s Kendall Long and Joe Amabile Have Said About Their Split

Not fully over? Kendall Long and Joe Amabile have appeared to stay on good terms following their January 2020 split — and at times have even sung each other’s praises while trying to move on. The TV personalities met while filming season 5 of Bachelor in Paradise in the summer of 2018. While they broke up on the beach, the twosome quickly reconnected outside of the show and continued to date. Their reunion was featured on the September 2018 BiP finale. “I feel like the one thing with Joe is that he’s just very honest and genuine and puts it all out there with who he is. He doesn’t really hold back,” Long told Us Weekly at the show’s finale taping one month prior. “That was the one thing that I really appreciated on Paradise. I just cracked up so hard.” Amabile echoed his then-girlfriend’s sentiments, telling Us, “I like when she gets mad and she puts that face on. We just like being together. It feels right.” Things appeared to be going well for the graphic designer and the grocery store worker as Amabile relocated to Los Angeles to compete on Dancing With the Stars. The pair announced in April 2019 that they signed a lease together less than one year into their relationship. [jwplayer 1DxqXE4K-zhNYySv2] However, the former couple surprised Bachelor Nation nine months later when they revealed they had split. The breakup had a lot to do with location — Amabile was moving back to Chicago — and Long was just as shocked by it as fans were. “If anyone knows me, I’m not the person that plans my wedding and I was literally doing that with Joe,” she said on her “Down to Date” podcast in February 2020, one month after the duo went their separate ways. “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.” The former flames have seemingly remained friends to some degree since their January 2020 breakup. Fans, however, began speculating in summer 2021 that they may rekindle their romance after both parties were announced as Bachelor in Paradise season 7 participants. “It worked for Joe last time, you know, he kind of fell for Kendall and yes, they had their ups and downs, but they were together post-show for a very long time,” Paradise bartender Wells Adams exclusively told Us ahead of the August premiere. “The show doesn’t work for everybody, but for the select few, it’s really, really beautiful. And so I think my concern with Joe coming back on was, it’s hard to recreate something — like, will lightning strike twice?” Scroll down to see what Long and Amabile have said about their split: [podcast_block]

Credit: AFF-USA/Shutterstock

It’s Over

“We have decided mutually to go our separate ways. Joe has made the decision to move back to Chicago while Kendall will be remaining in her hometown of Los Angeles,” the twosome said in joint statement in January 2020. “Our family and friends have always been an extremely important element to who we are as people. We can’t imagine continuing our lives without them closer, especially when thinking of starting a family of our own one day. We both respect each others’ decision and still have a great deal of love for each other. We appreciate all the love and support everyone has given us throughout our relationship.”

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Blindsided

“I did not see it coming,” Long said on her “Down to Date” podcast in February 2020. “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.”

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It’s Not Romantic

“I love Joe. I mean, he’s just a great person and we’ve really went through a lot together and we have so much, we see strength in each other,” the taxidermy enthusiast exclusively told Us in October 2020. “So if I’m having a hard day, I can talk to him and, you know, I hope he feels the same way. I’m not really sure what’s going to happen down the line. … We have a good relationship. It’s not romantic right now.”

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Learning How to Be Friends

“I think initially I was like, ‘This is gonna be easy. It’s going to be fine. We’re gonna be great friends.’ But it’s definitely difficult when you want to move on,” Long told Us in October 2020 of the breakup. “You want to start to date and it’s not fair to keep holding onto somebody that you used to love and still have, like, a big place in your heart for, and I think we’re kind of learning how to be friends. I wouldn’t say we’re completely 100 percent there yet. It’s been a good process. I mean, he’s a great person.”

Credit: Courtesy of Kendall Long/Instagram; Courtesy of Joe Amabile/Instagram

Mixed Feelings About Moving On

Long revealed what she really thought about her ex possibly returning to Bachelor in Paradise without her during a May 2021 appearance on the “Almost Famous” podcast. “It would be so hard. I would not want to watch him fall in love with someone else. That would suck so much,” she said. “I still have a tremendous amount of love for him.”

The Just Curious author noted “it would be really difficult” to see him searching for love with a new woman, adding, “I would just be signing up for another heartbreak.” The California native also said that her relationship and split from Amabile altered what she’s looking for in a partner moving forward.

“That was the relationship, I just threw so much trust in and right off the bat was honest and open. It was the first relationship I actually saw, potentially, turning into a marriage,” she continued. “That was something very new for me.”

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin

'Bachelor in Paradise' Breakdown

Amabile reflected on his split from Long during the August 2021 premiere of season 7 of Bachelor in Paradise. “Breaking up was the hardest thing I ever had to do,” he said during the show. “Right away you have your doubts and you’re obviously upset, but I forced myself to get over her.”

The grocery store worker was overwhelmed with emotions after talking with new contestant Serena Pitt. The two discussed his breakup from Long and Amabile later told the cameras while choking back tears, “My conversation with Serena P. was like talking to Kendall.”

Credit: ABC

Not Over Joe?

"I don't want to just completely let go of him and I see Paradise as where we began," Long told ABC cameras on the August 31, 2021, episode of BiP before seeing her ex on the beach with Serena Pitt. “I have love for him of course. We still loved each other when we broke up so I don't know if we've ever really stopped having that connection. I definitely miss Joe."

Credit: ABC

Getting Closure

"It’s really difficult for me to go from us being each other’s everything to picturing a future, doing all of this stuff, to, in a really quick period of time, just being done," Long said on BiP in September 2021. “It’d be easy if we had a fight where you were a butthead, and you were mean, or I was mean, but it wasn’t like that, so it’s just difficult."

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The ‘Logistics’

During the September 6, 2021, episode of BiP, Long got emotional about their split happening over “logistics.”

“It’s difficult for me to not have you be a part of my life. I do want you in my life. You’re a special part of my life, and want you to be in my life in some capacity. It’s hard to not have that,” she said. “You try to move on, but for some reason it doesn’t feel right, and it’s hard to. … I guess the thing that was difficult for me is the reason why we broke up is not because we didn’t love each other.”

Amabile argued that Long didn’t even want to “try” living in Chicago. "Your whole thing was, 'I don’t want to move anywhere for a man.' I should’ve been more than just 'a man' at that point. We could’ve tried it,” he said.

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin

The Serena P. Of It All

"I'm not going to lie, I’m still at a point where I don’t know. I like where I’m at with Serena, but it’s still pretty early on. I don’t know if this is gonna work again. I don’t,” he said on BiP season 7.

In a confessional, Amabile added, "I think it’s pretty clear that Kendall still loves me, but I don’t know if I still love Kendall. … I have something with Serena that I don’t want to just throw away. I don’t. I like where that’s going. This is messy.”

Credit: Mark Von Holden/Invision/AP/Shutterstock; ABC/Craig Sjodin

Lingering Feelings

Before she ultimately chose to leave Mexico, Kendall told her ex, "I still feel like you're my best friend." She broke down in tears as she admitted how "hard" it was to watch him move on.

"I never stopped loving you. ... This has been, like, really torturous," she replied when Joe asked if she wasn't over their breakup.

Joe, however, had seemingly put their past behind them. "To be honest, the reason I came out here was because ... I knew it was over between us," he told Kendall. "And if I didn't feel that I wouldn't have came. I was also kind of under the impression that you felt the same way. You were a big part of my life and I'm always going to care about you. I'm still always here for you."