The Bachelorette alum Justin Glaze has broken his silence about the current status of his relationship with Susie Evans amid breakup rumors.
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And Justin, 30, just revealed he and Susie are taking things "day by day" in an interview with Us Weekly on Monday, August 19.
"We're taking some time to figure out what's going to be best for us," Justin shared at The Famously Average Golf Tournament in Livermore, CA.
Justin said he and Susie, however, continue to "stay on the same page" as questions arise about the future of their relationship.
"We are prioritizing each other, ourselves and that's about it," he added.
Susie shared a similar sentiment with People when she had shared earlier this month, "You have to figure out the boundaries that you're comfortable with the public and there is this pressure to put yourself out there because it's kind of my livelihood at this point."
"I realized that it's better to protect your privacy and your peace than to appease what people want from you," she concluded.
Susie and Justin met in November 2022 and claimed for a year that their close relationship was strictly platonic as fans were constantly shipping them as a couple.
However, the pair confirmed in late January that they had begun dating, and they went Instagram official on January 24.
Susie and Justin then joined forces in their social-media influencing, posting hilarious videos and ads of each other.
But rumors Susie and Justin had split began to swirl in July because the lovebirds were noticeably posting less couple's content on social media.
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Susie's last post with Justin was on July 1, and it was only an ad.
The Instagram account, @Deux Moi, also posted a photo that allegedly showed Justin walking with another girl in Chicago in July.
And Ashley Iaconetti fueled breakup speculation by gossiping about the status of Susie and Justin's romance on the July 19 episode of her "The Ben & Ashley I: Almost Famous Podcast" that she co-hosts with Ben Higgins.
Ashley acknowledged how Susie and Justin were "all of a sudden" being "kind of quiet on social media."
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Ashley noted, "All they've posted together has been ads," and she wondered if the recent ads were "prior obligations" they had filmed "in advance."
"You know, the post date is later in the relationship or maybe they signed contracts saying that they would do the ads together," Ashley explained.
"We don't really know for sure, but we know that they haven't been in any real organic content together lately."
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Susie and Justin had met in late 2022, and they both moved to Los Angeles about six months later.
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 and Justin even flat out denied that they were dating -- and that they had ever lived together or 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 risk their friendship for the sake of taking things to the next level, in case their relationship didn't work out in the long run.
Susie and Justin's flirty dynamic apparently changed from friendship to something more intimate in October 2023, and so they kept their romance under wraps for several months.
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.
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Justin explained to E! News of their dishonesty earlier this year, "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."
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.
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Susie and the Bachelor in Paradise alum gushed to E! News about how they had a "natural, fun chemistry" and always had a blast together.
But Susie explained how their relationship went much deeper than that, mainly because Justin provided 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."
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski