Bachelor in Paradise season 7 couple Maurissa Gunn and Riley Christian ended the October 2021 finale strong. The two initially fell quickly for one another on their first date, even spending some time together in the show’s “boom boom room.” By the time the October finale aired, the two were happily engaged.
“See, Maurissa, I love you,” Riley said in his proposal. “And I’ve loved you since our very first date. I just need to be sure. That said, will you marry me?”
After gleefully accepting his proposal, she started wearing her beautiful two-carat, pear-shaped diamond ring as they continued their romance, as Us Weekly reported.
By the time the winter holidays came around, Riley had shared some of their romantic moments, such as one standing in front of the Rockefeller Centre tree in New York City on December 23, 2021, and another sitting in front of a smaller tree on Christmas Day. He also posted a detailed video with numerous memories the lovebirds shared throughout the year.
“I learned a lot in 2021,” Riley wrote via Instagram on January 1, 2022. “At the end of the day, I’m one of the luckiest guys on the planet. Bring on 2022.”
Although all seemed well with the famous duo, they sparked split rumors in early 2022 when fans started to notice that Maurissa had deleted multiple — but not all — photos of Riley from her Instagram feed. He, however, kept his photos of the two of them together on his account.
Neither she nor Riley addressed the split speculation, but the reality TV stud wrote a rather cryptic statement on Instagram on January 6.
“We ain’t come this far just to come this far,” Riley captioned his post, featuring a video of himself working out. “Work hard, stay humble but still let ‘em know that you got it. No matter how many times we get knocked down, we get back up. Giving it everything we got [in] 2022.”
Fans soon flooded the comments section on his post, asking if he and Maurissa were still an item. “Where is Maurissa???” one Instagram user commented. “Please don’t tell me you guys split.”
Not only that, but Maurissa also shared a questionable quote to her Instagram Stories on January 7, that read, “All that glitters is not gold” while sharing a photo of herself wearing a long, black leather coat and didn’t appear to be wearing her engagement ring. That same day, she also posted a selfie with the caption, “Don’t worry, be happy,” spurring several fans to wonder about the couple’s status.
“Please don’t let anyone divide you and Riley,” one person wrote in a comment under Maurissa’s photo, whereas another went so far as to write, “Love is not real if y’all broke up,” adding a crying face emoji to their comment.
Scroll through the gallery to see Maurissa and Riley’s relationship timeline.