Are Whitney Fransway and Connor Saeli Still a Thing, Post-'Bachelor in Paradise'?

Oh dear.

By Katherine J Igoe

Sep 23, 2019

Getty Images

Whitney Fransway and Connor Saeli were the couple no one saw coming on this season of Bachelor in Paradise. Connor came on and turned heads, but "lost" Caelynn to a mustache-less Dean as Caelynn decided that living in a van was preferable to sipping martinis on a beach with a sweet guy (intriguing). But he ended up finding a connection off-show with Whitney Fransway, whom he had met at Chris Randone and Krystal Nielson's wedding.

So everything's great with the tall, sweet contestant from Hannah Brown's Bachelorette season and the sweet brunette from Nick Viall's Bachelor season? I investigate—but prepare yourself, because it's not great news.

The two had a delightful edit on Bachelor in Paradise.

Connor stared longingly at the entryway to the BiP beach for a while before he decided that Whitney, whom he was waiting for, just wasn't coming. He left sadly. Literally five minutes later, Whitney showed up (lol, producers. Now you're not even pretending to be subtle.). She heard Connor had just left and raced off to be with him. The couple ended up canoodling in the hotel—a happy ending! Love is real! Paradise does lead to some of the cutest couples in the Bachelorverse! Right?

View this post on Instagram

A little unconventional for a favorite moment, but we love that @consaelaway followed his heart! #BachelorInParadise

A post shared by Bachelor in Paradise (@bachelorinparadise) on Sep 15, 2019 at 9:00am PDT

Whitney just posted honestly about their breakup.

Just kidding on the happy ever after, I guess. Whitney posted yesterday about the status of their relationship, saying, "Jumping into a long-distant relationship, right after, made [things] more difficult. At the end of August, we started having more serious conversations about where we saw our relationship going. We have been nothing but honest in communicating our feelings throughout the relationship, but we came to a conclusion that it just wasn't working right now."

She added, "The connection we had wasn’t igniting as much as it did in the beginning...We are still on good terms and ultimately, still have the foundation of a friendship. We have mutually decided this is the best decision for both of us. Thank you to everyone who was rooting for us and has been so so supportive. I appreciate it so very much. Love you all!" Welp, that's depressing.

Here's the post:

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Since I’m getting so many questions about Connor and I; Here ya go: Connor and I really hit off at Paradise this year. We had an instant spark between us. When we left Paradise, it allowed us to explore that spark further. Jumping into a long-distant relationship, right after, made it more difficult. At the end of August, we started having more serious conversations about where we saw our relationship going. We have been nothing but honest in communicating our feelings throughout the relationship, but we came to a conclusion that it just wasn't working right now. The connection we had wasn’t igniting as much as it did in the beginning. I have grown to care for him very much and we have shared a lot of memories together in the past few months. I will always have nothing but respect for him. We are still on good terms and ultimately, still have the foundation of a friendship. We have mutually decided this is the best decision for both of us. Thank you to everyone who was rooting for us and has been so so supportive. I appreciate it so very much. Love you all!

A post shared by Whitney Fransway (@whitneyfransway) on Sep 22, 2019 at 8:26am PDT

Intriguingly, Connor hasn't posted anything on his Instagram since leaving BiP:

And he did not "like" Whitney's Instagram post, despite being tagged in it. So I wonder if there's actually more to the story, or if things aren't as amicable post-breakup as we're being led to believe.

So there you have it. Sad trombone sound.

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