A new outlook! Less than one month after confirming her split from Riley Christian, Maurissa Gunn is navigating her new normal.
“I’m back baby, and feeling better than ever,” the Montana native, 25, captioned a Wednesday, February 9, Instagram snap in the gym. “I know we’re already in the month of February, but this year I have decided to focus on ME and put ME first.”
The former pageant queen, who connected with the 32-year-old attorney on season 7 of Bachelor in Paradise, touched on her emotional breakup in her Wednesday social media upload.
“These last few months haven’t been easy, but let me tell you today I feel amazing,” the season 24 Bachelor alum wrote. “Taking time to heal at my own pace was the best thing I could do. I would not be where I am without the amazing support system I have. Thank you to everyone who has helped me through, and a huge s/o to @black.on_ for reminding me who the heck I was and believing in me to become the BEST version of myself. Let’s see what this year has to offer!”
Fans of the ABC reality franchise were convinced that the pair had called it quits after Gunn wiped photos of Christian from her social media earlier this year. After weeks of speculation, the duo confirmed last month that they had ended their engagement.
“We have decided to go our separate ways. Never did we imagine this, but we’ve come to a point where we both need to work on ourselves,” the twosome said in a joint statement on January 24. “We’ve appreciated everyone’s love and support so far throughout our journey and we just ask that you please respect our privacy as we navigate through this.”
While both Gunn and Christian have remained quiet about the nature of their breakup, fellow Bachelor Nation alum Demi Burnett seemingly noted that there was more to the story than fans realized.
“Y’all got the Maurissa and Riley break up SO WRONG,” the “Big Demi Energy” podcast host, 26, tweeted earlier this month. “I’m mad at the BS being portrayed! I don’t want to talk about it bc it’s stressful and not my business to tell! BUT LOOK DEEPER LISTEN TO UR INTUITION.”
The patient care coordinator, for her part, dropped a “like” on Burnett’s social media message.
Several weeks earlier, Natasha Parker alluded to what went wrong between her BiP costars.
“I think that they just have very different lives, at least from my understanding of what she was saying,” the “Click Bait With Bachelor Nation” cohost, 33, revealed during a January podcast episode. “She completely integrated into his life and I think that she kind of missed her family, she missed her friends. … [She] told me she has no regrets, and I think that’s a beautiful thing.
Gunn and Christian got engaged during the season 7 finale of the ABC spinoff, which aired in August 2021, before she relocated to his native New York City.