Big Brother couple Haleigh Broucher and Faysal "Fessy" Shafaat have announced they have broken up and split with two years after falling for each other on Big Brother's 20th season.
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Haleigh took to Twitter to address her breakup with Fessy on Tuesday, July 14.
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"To all of the fans, It is with a heavy heart that Fes and I have made the decision to split ways and focus on ourselves," Haleigh, 23, began in her statement.
"This was not an easy decision, and we have truly tried every possible thing we could to continue in this relationship. We are so grateful for the memories, opportunities, and the great times that we have to cherish, and will always hold a place in our hearts for the other."
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Haleigh from Houston, TX, then explained what went wrong in her relationship with Fessy, a 28-year-old from Orlando, FL.
"With both of our lives moving in different directions, the distance, the different backgrounds, and the constant pressures online, it was better for both of our mental healths to call it quits," Haleigh continued.
"Like I said, Fes will always have a place in my heart. To everyone that has supported us, and all of the Fayleigh fans, thank you a million times over. You all hold a special place in our hearts as well."
Haleigh concluded, "We are still so grateful and in love with you guys, and I hope y'all can learn to love us separately. We hope that you can respect our privacy and healing at this time."
Fessy, who competed on Wednesday night's season finale of MTV's The Challenge: Total Madness, has yet to publicly comment on the split.
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The news of their breakup comes on the heels of two Big Brother Season 21 couples choosing to part ways: Kathryn Dunn and Nick Maccarone, who announced their split in April, and Jackson Michie and Holly Allen, who called it quits on their relationship in June.
Haleigh was a 21-year-old college student and Faysal was a 26-year-old substitute teacher when they met on Big Brother in Summer 2018 and developed a sweet and innocent crush on each other in the house.
Faysal, however, had to pursue the relationship, as Haleigh played a bit hard to get.
Haleigh and Faysal were in an alliance throughout the whole Big Brother game as members of the original "FOUTTE" alliance, and Haleigh was considered the brains of the operation with Faysal being dubbed "the brawn" of their partnership.
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Their romance never really heated up due to Haleigh's focus on the Season 20 game, but they were still viewed as a dangerous power couple.
Big Brother's houseguests therefore evicted Faysal in a 4-1 vote over Haleigh during a late August 2018 episode of Season 20 on CBS, and Haleigh was evicted from Big Brother two weeks later during a live double-eviction broadcast on September 13.
Both houseguests had every intention of pursuing a relationship once outside of the house, and their post-show romance consisted of traveling together and expressed their love for one another on social media.
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In June 2019, Faysal and Haleigh had announced their plans to put an end to their long-distance relationship and move to the same location soon.
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"We want to just find a spot and build. Not a house, but build ourselves," Haleigh told E! News at the time. "We just want to enjoy life."
"What we've been doing is every few weeks, we book a flight so we know that no matter what, we're going to see the other in let's just say two weeks," Haleigh shared.
"Because I think giving yourself that time frame and knowing that you're going to see them no matter what—that actually makes it better. You have something to look forward to."
Haleigh and Fessy had also regularly shared photos of themselves on social media.
"The real prize," Fessy captioned a photo of him kissing Haleigh's forehead in a December 2019 posting on Instagram.
"If she's smiling I'm smiling," he captioned another photo showing the couple visiting Disney World in January 2020.
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"Cuties," Haleigh recently replied to a June 2020 photo showing Fessy enjoying a boating outing with Big Brother 20 winner Kaycee Clark and Big Brother 19 houseguest Josh Martinez in Florida.
"Shoulda came!!" Fessy responded.
"Shoulda woulda coulda," replied Haleigh, who still lives in Houston.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski