Listen to Your Heart’s Winners’ Bri Stauss and Chris Watson Split
Achy breaky heart! Bri Stauss and Chris Watson have called it quits after nearly one year of dating.
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The pair, who won The Bachelor: Listen to Your Heart in May 2020, announced their split on Tuesday, January 19.
“With deep admiration and respect for one another, we have decided to end our relationship and go our separate ways,” the former couple told E! News in a joint statement. “We will always look back on our journey with deep fondness, and will continue to support each other both personally and professionally.”
Although they have gone their separate ways romantically, the pair hinted that fans might see more from them musically in the future.
“We look forward to sharing more updates with you all as we navigate our future making music together,” they added. “Thank you all for your love, support and privacy.”
Stauss, 28, and Watson, 31, had an instant connection on The Bachelor spinoff series, which debuted in April 2020, hitting it off on night one. The pair released an album together, Chris and Bri, after winning the competition.
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The duo exclusively told Us Weekly about their dynamic following the show’s May finale, with Watson saying, “We just have a real bond and vibe and it’s been amazing to explore.”
The L.A. resident noted that the couple didn’t feel pressure to play up their relationship when the cameras were rolling, adding: “Luckily, Bri and I have not had to fake anything.”
Despite having to record their debut album remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic, the pair felt solid in their romance.
“We really have grown a lot stronger in this time. It’s been beautiful. I really do feel like we are prepared for the best and the worst, you know, when it comes to like, wanting to see relationship all the way through,” Watson told Us. “And I feel like we’ve just experienced so much together that it’s just like we have such a strong trust that if she’s going to tell me something, or if I’m going to tell her something, but we know that it’s just because we want the best for each other. And that’s like, the best thing that you can have at any relationship having a really strong trust.”
Stauss, for her part, told Us that ahead of the pandemic she was “planning on traveling back and forth quite a bit or moving to L.A.” to be closer to Watson.
“We’re taking it day by day with everything that’s going on, because it’s completely out of our control, sadly,” the Utah native said at the time.
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Ahead of their split, the pair released a second album, Wrapped Under the Tree, in December.
“This is the second album @tellemwatson and I have written during the pandemic and can I just say: It’s been hard,” Stauss wrote via Instagram at the time alongside a photo of the duo wearing matching holiday pajamas. “We are so proud of everything we’ve accomplished this year despite the circumstances and feel SO lucky we were able to do everything we’ve done.”
The pair have been noticeably absent from each other’s social media pages since dropping the Christmas album in mid-December.
