Bachelor in Paradise alum Maurissa Gunn insists she hasn't shaded her former fiance Riley Christian on social media.
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Maurissa, who first competed on Peter Weber's The Bachelor season in 2020, got engaged to Riley, a New York-based attorney, on Bachelor in Paradise's seventh season in Summer 2021.
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Following weeks of breakup speculation, Riley and Maurissa confirmed their split in a joint statement on January 24, three months after their engagement aired on Bachelor in Paradise's October 2021 finale.
"We know that you've shaded him a little on social and so have your friends," Ashley Iaconetti noted on a recent episode of "The Ben and Ashley I: Almost Famous podcast," which she co-hosts with Ben Higgins.
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"What?!" Maurissa replied in disbelief.
"Come on, I feel like it's been a little shady," Ashley said.
"I have not been shady in any sort of way," Maurissa insisted.
Ashley reminded Maurissa how she recently conducted an interview in which the Montana native alluded to the fact some people hadn't signed up for Bachelor in Paradise to find love.
"You said, 'It's hard finding that out in the aftermath,'" Ashley claimed.
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"I didn't say that they weren't there for love," Maurissa clarified. "I think that being in the circumstances we were in, it became reality, like, coming off of the show, you know?"
"And sometimes who you meet on the show is not who they are after the show, if that makes sense," she added.
Maurissa said, however, she was "not trying to shade in any way" -- not even Riley.
"Everything [Riley and I went through] -- our whole relationship was legit, of course. I loved him from the bottom of my heart, I'm sure he loved me back. But it just didn't work out. There's no shade," Maurissa explained.
"It's a difficult situation."
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Maurissa moved from Atlanta to New York after Bachelor in Paradise to be with Riley, and she said she sacrificed a lot for their relationship, maybe too much of herself.
"I was kind of going down to make this person happy rather than meeting [in the middle] or helping each other grow," Maurissa told Ashley and Ben.
But on the topic of being "shady," Maurissa argued that she was "completely genuine and authentic throughout the whole thing," which is probably why fans had an idea her romance with Riley was over before they announced it in January.
"Essentially, I think we both realized that this isn't it, and I think we both realized it a lot sooner than when [we announced the split]," Maurissa noted.
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"We both tried. We really tried... The last two months have been really, really tough... but I feel great."
Maurissa initially sparked the Riley breakup rumors in early January when she'd post cryptic messages such as "don't worry, be happy" and began slowly removing photos of Riley from her Instagram account, seemingly taking jabs at her ex-fiance.
Maurissa also shared a video without her engagement ring and a cryptic quote that read, "All that glitters is not gold," which suggested Riley may not have been all that he was cracked up to be.
In late February, The Bachelor alum Demi Burnett appeared to suggest Riley may have been at fault for the split, and Maurissa "liked" the tweet.
"Y'all got the Maurissa and Riley break up SO WRONG," Demi tweeted on February 3, adding, "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."
And several weeks later, Maurissa appeared to slam Riley by retweeting two of The Bachelor alum Deandra Kanu's Twitter posts that were also seemingly aimed at Riley.
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"I'm not an inherently messy person, but when I see things in real time and then see someone skew that perception for social media it's very scary," Deandra wrote at the time.
"It's not okay by any means to be the catalyst of your own demise and then go onto socials and ask for the publics sympathy," she added in a second tweet. "There are always two sides to a story."
While Deandra didn't name Riley directly, her tweets came only one day after Riley posted a lengthy statement on Instagram about how he was trying to "heal" and bounce back from his breakup with Maurissa.
As far as Maurissa bouncing back goes, she actually went on a date a few weeks ago -- which apparently didn't work out -- and revealed, "I'm dating. I'm trying to date."
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Maurissa said her date earlier this month was with a man outside of Bachelor Nation and it was fun but it's definitely "over."
"I'm older, I'm more mature now. I've been here and I know what I want in a man. I think I was unsure going in [to The Bachelor franchise]," Maurissa insisted.
Maurissa said, however, she's not ruling out men from Bachelor Nation and would "be very open" to appearing on Bachelor in Paradise again.
"There are so many amazing people that come out of Bachelor Nation, okay? I would be up for it, yeah," Maurissa said, adding that she does believe The Bachelor process works.
But Maurissa advised future Bachelor in Paradise contestants to trust your gut, be true to yourselves, and know what you deserve and really want.
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"Make sure you're compatible with how you want to raise kids, how you want to have family, things like that, where you want to live. I made the mistake by trying to sacrifice everything going into it for love," said Maurissa.
"But I mean, I don't think it was really a sacrifice -- when you're in love, that's what you do... I'm still questioning it myself."
Maurissa, who grew up in a small and rural town, is now back in Atlanta after the breakup.
"I clearly want love, I want marriage. I want babies," Maurissa shared.
As for what she's looking for in an ideal partner, Maurissa disclosed, "I'm looking for someone that knows what they want, and doesn't just say they know what they want."
"They're very ambitious. Someone that wants the same things I want... I know the right questions to ask, you know? I know not to just fall in love with somebody right away that says, 'Oh, you're pretty... and I want to take you on a date.'"
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Maurissa confessed that's "the mistake" that she made before with Riley, although she doesn't regret any of her decisions.
"I feel like I was just so ready for love that I would take anything at that point. And now I found myself -- I've done a lot of, like, [self]-help. I've been through therapy, a lot of things like that," Maurissa said. "And I just know my worth and myself now."
Back in October 2021, Maurissa told People that she was planning to have a "wedding and then some babies" with Riley.
When Maurissa accepted a pear-shaped diamond engagement ring from Riley on the beach in Mexico in Summer 2021, the pair became the franchise's first-ever Black couple to get engaged.
Riley and Maurissa fell head over heels in love with each other in Paradise, but Riley was still a little unsure as to whether he was going to pop the question after the pair's overnight Fantasy Suite date.
Riley assured People last year that it "was never a thought" to leave the resort alone but he had to take a moment or two to reflect on the idea of potentially making Maurissa his fiancee.
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"[I thought to myself], 'This is everything that you've ever wanted -- having a fiancee and being able to start a family.' I knew where I was already leaning towards," Riley explained at the time.
"It's just like, 'This is a big decision, take some time to think about it. Okay, you thought about it.' It didn't take that long. 'And now, go propose and get your lady.'"
Riley proceeded to call himself the "luckiest" man in the world to have Maurissa by his side.
Prior to appearing on Bachelor in Paradise, Riley competed on Clare Crawley and Tayshia Adams' edition of The Bachelorette in 2020.
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