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Amanda Stanton & Josh Murray Are Officially Over

by Megan Walsh

Season 3 of Bachelor in Paradise ended with three men popping the question and three women happily accepting, but just a few short months after the end of the season, two couples have already called it quits. The first was #Grace, Grant Kemp and Lace Morris, but now another pair have decided to separate. Amanda Stanton and Josh Murray broke up, and some may not be too surprised considering their drama-filled and contentious courtship.

Josh's arrival on Bachelor in Paradise was designed to stir up a little conflict on the beach, particularly with old rival Nick Viall. The show tried to milk the fact that both men have competed over women before by placing Amanda at the center of their newest disagreement, but at the time she only had eyes for Josh. Though Josh rubbed more than one person the wrong way on BiP (and Amanda received her fair share of warning from cast mates), it seemed like he and Amanda were going to try to make it work anyway. After getting engaged on the show, he even moved from Atlanta to California to be with her and her two daughters. But now their relationship is over, according to a statement from Amanda.

"We did break up," Amanda told Us Weekly. "It's been kind of a weird situation because we broke up and we didn't release a statement, obviously, so I think people have been kind of going crazy wondering if we're together or if we're not and we're not." Amanda didn't provide any explanation for what caused the breakup, exactly, but she insisted she hadn't been trying to hide it; she just didn't know what to say. Now Amanda is planning on staying single for a little while so she can focus on herself and her family.

Us Weekly claims insiders alerted the publication to the breakup in December, stating that Josh was unhappy and the couple was fighting, but that Josh wanted to hang in there for Amanda's kids. Josh made his affection for her children clear when he tweeted a picture of himself with one of Amanda's daughters alongside the comment, "I will always love this precious little angel." That gave Bachelor fans their first hint that things were amiss, though earlier in the month Josh had posted a picture of himself and Amanda with the caption "happy happy happy." How quickly things can change.

Josh has returned to Atlanta following the breakup. Hopefully he's comforting himself with a mini pizza right about now.