The Bachelor alum Susie Evans and The Bachelorette alum Justin Glaze have confirmed they are dating and also admitted that they kept their relationship a secret for several months.

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Last year, many fans had speculated that Susie and Justin were more than friends, or they voiced how the pair should be more than friends because they appear to be such a great match.

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But Susie and Justin repeatedly insisted their relationship was only platonic -- until now.

Susie and Justin just went public -- and Instagram official -- with their romantic relationship in a joint Instagram post on Wednesday, January 24.

"Okay fine... y'all were right," Susie and Justin captioned a carousel of sweet photos as well as a video of them together.

Bachelor Nation weighed in on the big news and expressed their excitement for the couple in the comments section.

Charity Lawson wrote, "Screaming," and Katie Thurston posted a gif that read, "Pretends to be shocked."

Jason Tartick gushed, "The one where the photographer and painter fall in love…here for this."

Tia Rachel commented, "Well it's about time!!! We're all rooting for you!!!"

And Becca Tilley wrote, "HEAVY SIGH OF RELIEF AND JOY!!!!!! Yayayaya!!!!!!"

Susie and Justin also confirmed their relationship in a joint interview with E! News.

"Justin is my boyfriend," Susie said. "We're dating."

But Susie and Justin -- who had met in November 2022 and both moved to Los Angeles about six months later -- kept their relationship under wraps for about three months.

Susie and Justin's flirty dynamic apparently changed from friendship to something more intimate in October 2023.

According to Justin, he and Susie went to The Penmar's Sunset Sessions and then headed to a bar with some friends.

At the end of the night, Susie and Justin were the sole survivors.

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Since Susie had left her car at Justin's place, they left together, and then Susie suggested they stop for some late-night snacks at a 7-Eleven.

The pair was "messing around with each other a little flirtatiously per usual," and then Justin recalled Susie asking him to stop playing around.

"I was like, 'Oh, this tone seems a little bit different," Justin shared.

"In the back of my head, I was like, 'If you're serious, I'm serious.' That was kind of my mindset. I had always been testing the lines, and I wasn't sure if she would go for it. So, I didn't want to cross those boundaries."

Once the buddies returned to Justin's place, Susie and Justin finally decided to be honest with each other about their feelings.

"We had a really nice conversation, and I kinda just went for it," Justin revealed.

"I was like, 'Hey listen, I don't know where you stand on our friendship or relationship. Obviously, I respect you so much, and I appreciate our friendship. But I'd be lying if I [said I] haven't thought about if there is potential for more than a friendship just given the natural chemistry that we had as friends.'"

Susie and Justin then ended up having their first kiss on his couch, which prompted a mutual decision to give a real relationship a shot.

However, the lovebirds agreed not to immediately share the news with their friend group, and so they dated in private for about three weeks.

Once Susie and Justin spilled the tea to their closest friends, they apparently still weren't ready to announce their relationship to the world.

In fact, Susie and Justin even flat out denied that they were dating -- and that they had ever hooked up -- during a December interview on the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast, which is co-hosted by Bachelor in Paradise couple Joe Amabile and Serena Pitt.

Susie and Justin were very especially playful and flirty during their interview, and they even seemed to hint that they were considering taking their dynamic out of the friend zone. But the pair claimed they didn't want to put their friendship at risk for a romance that may not work out in the long run.

Justin explained to E! News of their dishonesty, "We've always wanted to just kind of protect our privacy, which sounds funny to say because we went on the show where our romantic connections are far from private."

Justin elaborated, "But we wanted to just protect our peace, and control our narrative and not put any pressure on our relationship."

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The couple even spent the holidays together, having their "own little hometown" date. Justin said he met Susie's family in Virginia and she met his family in Maryland, where the pair attended a Baltimore Ravens game.

Justin initially reached out to Susie via Instagram DMs when he needed a videographer for one of her work projects.

The reality TV stars became friends after Susie won Clayton Echard's heart on The Bachelor's 26th season but they split in September 2022. Justin, for his part, competed for Katie Thurston on The Bachelorette's seventeenth season.

Justin also appeared on Bachelor in Paradise's eighth season in 2022.

While Justin had sparked a connection with Eliza Isichei, it didn't work out because she ultimately gave her rose to Rodney Mathews. When Eliza determined she had made a mistake and wanted Justin back, it was too late and he wasn't interested in reconciling.

"Justin dated people, I dated people," Susie shared of the couple's initial dynamic. "So the narrative of us being truly just friends was true."

Susie and the Bachelor in Paradise alum gushed to E! News about how they have a "natural, fun chemistry" and always have a blast together.

But Susie explained how their relationship goes much deeper than that, mainly because Justin provides her with unconditional acceptance and support.

"If I'm dealing with something, I just deal with it myself, and I don't know if I've ever felt like I could rely on someone to be there the way I can rely on Justin," Susie explained.

"It actually makes me kind of emotional talking about it because I feel like there have been so many things where he's just shown such good character when I've really needed somebody.... He's really shown up and been so supportive, and I've never had someone be there for me like that."

Susie added, "I have a great family, but like a partner, I've never had somebody show up the way he has."

Justin also praised Susie for being compassionate, patient and extremely loving.

"She's always just so understanding and kind, and she's a huge empath," Justin said.

"She's kind of taught me how to step back, and just communicate, and slow things down, and see things from a totally different angle, which is something that I probably needed."

In November 2023, Susie joked during an Instagram Q&A session how she was "trying" to move out of the friend zone with Justin after a summer romance she had fizzled out.

Susie clarified she and Justin were never roommates, and the pair also happened to best friends with The Bachelor alum Andrew Spencer at the time.

Prior to Andrew publicly unveiling his new relationship with Beca Michie in September 2023, he and Susie were also asked about their relationship status during "The Viall Files" podcast hosted by Season 21 The Bachelor star Nick Viall.

When asked directly if she was dating Andrew, Susie simply replied "no" during the August 1 episode of "The Viall Files" podcast.

And Andrew -- who had accompanied Susie to the Barbie movie premiere -- was also straight up asked if he was dating Susie during the podcast's July 25 episode.

"No, absolutely not. No," Andrew insisted, adding, "We're just going to completely deny it and deny it hard."

But Andrew boasted of Susie at the time, "Susie is the goofiest person you'll ever meet. I think she's the better version -- but girl version -- of me, where she doesn't really overthink the things that she does. She's just like, 'Hey, I'm going to do it.' And I think that's the coolest thing."

The podcast's co-hosts joked about how it looked like Susie was The Bachelorette star and she was trying to decide whether to give Andrew or Justin her final rose.

"We're basically on an ongoing two-on-one date right now," Andrew confirmed with a laugh.

"[Justin] did his video with her the other day on a Target run, and I don't know how I felt about it. But I try to support them, [even though] I wanted to be a part of the video."

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)

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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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