Kendall Long has revealed Joe Amabile essentially gave her an "ultimatum" before they split.
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Kendall and Joe then announced in late January they had decided mutually to split up because they couldn't agree on a city in which to settle down long term given neither Kendall from Los Angeles or Joe from Chicago wanted to live far from their family.
"No longer with Joe, but I'm doing a lot better with it," Kendall told Entertainment Tonight in a recent interview.
"I mean, it's hard because of course you miss the person that you thought you were potentially going to marry, but he's doing really well. And so, I'm happy for him, yeah."
Kendall revealed her breakup was "a little bit of a surprise."
"But I think ultimately Joe saw his happiness and work in Chicago, and I can't resent him because of that," Kendall shared.
"And for me, I just never foresaw a future there, so, I think it became an ultimatum within itself where either I move to Chicago or we broke up. And I didn't really want to have a relationship like that."
Kendall, however, admitted she and Joe did not go cold turkey after their split. Fans even noticed them commenting on each other's social media accounts in subsequent weeks.
"We talk every few days. It's hard to talk every day," Kendall noted. "I mean, we tried our best to keep it amicable because we decided to break up and go through everything first and then go public."
"So I think in a way that's helped us to remain friends," she disclosed. "And also, we just don't talk bad about each other. I think that's, you know, but there's nothing bad to talk about."
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RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOWKendall said she and Joe were broken up for "about a month" before they dropped the news and went public with their current relationship status.
"Yeah, and we were living together during that time too, which is a little awkward. But I feel like it helped us get everything out of the way so we had no questions and we just agreed mutually that it was best that we separated," Kendall told ET.
Kendall said her relationship with Joe allowed her to actually picture marrying somebody and feel ready for that. She also said Joe has a lot of amazing qualities she'd like to find in her future partner.
"But he also taught me a lot of stuff that he doesn't possess that I'm looking for," Kendall said.
"If anything, he taught me that I am capable of that sort of love, like, marriage love."
Kendall admitted she's "not really" dating right now but is "open to dating."
"It's almost weird to begin dating again after being in a relationship that serious," Kendall explained. "So I guess I'm learning how to date in this day and age with apps and everything."
Kendall also appears to be in no rush to find a new man because she's still recovering from her split with Joe, saying it "definitely" hit her hard.
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"It was definitely difficult," Kendall confessed.
"But I think I like to see hope and happiness in the future, where I'm going to go. I think as long as we both had good intentions for why it ended, I feel like I can kind of move past that."
Kendall and Joe's split came as a bit of the surprise given the Bachelor in Paradise couple had teased they could be getting engaged soon in December 2019.
When asked whether she'd be up for another appearance on Bachelor in Paradise, Kendall replied, "I don't know!"
"I mean, honestly, there's going to be a lot more mature men that are going," she acknowledged.
"That'll be kind of an interesting contrast with two maybe completely different seasons, but again, never say never, but who knows!"
Kendall is referring to how Clare Crawley's lineup of bachelors on The Bachelorette's upcoming sixteenth season are older in general than past seasons, such as Hannah Brown's edition.
Kendall and Joe's relationship initially got off to a rocky start when Kendall blindsided and dumped Joe during the penultimate episode of Bachelor in Paradise's fifth season after he professed how he was falling in love with her.
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Kendall found herself making a stream of excuses on the beach in Mexico as to why their relationship wouldn't work, but Joe called her out for simply being unaware of her feelings for him or not reciprocating them at all.
Joe therefore left Paradise confused and heartbroken, while Kendall clearly felt there was more she could have said and the pair had unfinished business.
"I felt an immediate regret as soon as Joe walked away... I kept running away from the fact that I was falling for him," Kendall admitted to People in September 2018.
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However, Kendall flew straight to Chicago after the show wrapped to talk to Joe again in-person and apologize, and she expressed to him on-camera, "I am in love with you."
It took some time for Joe to trust Kendall again, but the couple ultimately reconciled and reignited their romance in the real world. Joe, without a doubt, was in love with Kendall as well.
When Joe competed on Season 27 of Dancing with the Stars in Fall 2018 in Los Angeles, he was able to remain close to Kendall considering she already lived in the Los-Angeles area at the time.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
