'Bachelor in Paradise' star Serene Russell opens up about the reason behind her differences with ex-fiance Brandon Jones

Washington [US], October 20 : 'Bachelor in Paradise' fame Serene Russell opened up about what caused the end of her engagement to actor and musician Brandon Jones, reported People.
While she announced their split in an Instagram post back in May, Russell, 28, opened up for the first time about the breakup during a recent appearance on Kaitlyn Bristowe's 'Off the Vine' podcast.
"We both had things we could have done better in the relationship," said Russell. "It was something that we were both very much still in, and we had gone to therapy, which was really cool."
The TV personality went on to say that they had gotten treatment from the beginning of their relationship and tried to set themselves up for "success," but there were "just ultimately so many things" going on.
According to People, one of the things that caused " irreparable damage" and there was "no coming back from" was when a video began to surface online of Jones, 29, with another woman.
"There was part of me that was like, 'Okay, I really love this person and I struggled with it for a really long time,'" she explained, before revealing that the video was sent to her by a stranger via direct message.
The stranger sent the message to a different person, who was on her season after she didn't open it, who informed her that it was "something you should look at."
Russell claimed that Jones had apologised to her after the incident, but she found it "hard to understand."
"I spent so much time ruminating and playing things back in my head. Like, does this make sense? Did I not see things?" she told Bristowe, 38. "I think the most painful thing is that we were still very much committed to each other."
"I never felt that depressed in my life," Russell added further in their conversation. "It was hard to deal with."
People has reached out to Jones for comment. The former couple got engaged during the season 8 finale of 'BiP', which aired in November 2022. Before Jones got on one knee, Russell referred to him as her "missing puzzle piece and my soulmate."
"You came into my life and showed me that your love is so much more than the love I had dreamt of all those years," she said. "I feel like we have two hearts cut from the same cloth, and I have never felt more seen or understood in my entire life. In you, I found my best friend, my missing puzzle piece, and my soulmate. I love you so much and I'm never going to take that for granted."
That same month, the former couple revealed to People that they had already moved in together and shared that they were excited about their future.
"She's going to show me her city, meet some of her friends, stuff like that," Jones told People. "And I think Christmas time, we're going to have our families come together and then just spend Christmas together here."
While they didn't get into details when announcing they were ending their engagement, they shared that having a relationship in the public eye had been "incredibly challenging."
"This has been immensely hard to accept and painful, as there is a lot of love between the two of us. We are deeply hurting and can only ask that there be no hate," a portion of the post read. "The best path for us at this time is to try and move forward and heal from this as individuals, reported People.