A source tells ET that the pair had essentially been 'estranged' for a couple of weeks.
Kaitlyn Bristowe and Shawn Booth have called it quits.
The Bachelorette couple confirmed their split in a statement to ET on Friday, explaining that they were going in "different directions," but planned to remain friends.
The pair quickly became Bachelor fan favorites after Booth proposed on the season 11 finale of The Bachelorette in 2015, and over the years, they insisted they were going to make it work. ET now has new details into why, after three years, the two decided to end their relationship.
Just a few weeks ago, on Oct. 14, Bristowe attended the Malibu wedding of Jessica Graf and Cody Nickson solo, where a source tells ET that the former Bachelorette was "talking so highly of Shawn." However, it seems their relationship had already started to shift towards a split.
A second source tells ET that Bristowe and Booth had essentially been "estranged" in recent weeks and that their romance was affected by Booth getting more involved in his Nashville gym, which recently opened. "Kaitlyn was all in on this relationship," the source shares.
According to a third source, however, the Off the Vine podcast host has her own projects to focus on. "It's just a matter of them growing apart," the source explains, adding that they still "care about each other," and will remain friends. The source says while their split has been "hard," "Kaitlyn is so strong and amazing and will be fine," adding: "There will be new adventures ahead."
In a June interview with ET, Booth admitted that it could sometimes be "tough" making his and Bristowe's relationship work, three years after they got engaged on The Bachelorette. "I can understand why couples break up," he confessed.
"If you're not strong enough to handle a lot of the outside noise and just the concept in general, it's very easy to call it quits," he continued. "We've obviously had a lot of bad times, but a lot of good times. We've just stayed humble through it all, put each other first and worked on our relationship. But it's not easy."
"We've learned to walk out of the room, because we'll go at it," Booth added of how they've dealt with fights. "Me and her are both kind of stubborn... but at the end of the day, we wake up still saying, 'I love you,' and it's onto the next day."
Bristowe was open with ET in many interviews throughout the years about her and Booth placing more focus on having a successful relationship rather than walking down the aisle. While speaking with ET in June 2017, she opened up about the many Bachelor franchise breakups, revealing that she and Booth were able to make it work because they took a step away from the limelight, and instead built a life together in Nashville.
“We kind of went back to a somewhat 'normal' life,” she said at the time. "We didn't do another TV show. We kind of got to really know each other after the show.”
As for what happens to Bristowe's stunning Neil Lane engagement ring, since she and Booth hit the two-year anniversary of their engagement last summer, she gets to keep it.
“That's what we're waiting for,” she joked to ET, nearly a year and a half ago. “Then I'm like, bye! Just kidding.”
See more on the pair in the video below.
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