Brianna Chickenfry says she’s ‘blindsided’ after Zach Bryan announces breakup on Instagram
Country music singer Zach Bryan was first linked to podcaster Brianna LaPaglia in July 2023
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Influencer Brianna Chickenfry has revealed she’s “blindsided” after Zach Bryan announced their breakup on social media.
On Tuesday (October 22), the country singer posted a statement on his Instagram Story revealing the two are no longer together. “Addressing something: Brianna and me have broken up with eachother [sic] and I respect and love her with every ounce of my heart,” his statement began. “She has loved me unconditionally for a very long time and for that, I’ll always thank her.”
He continued: “I’ve had an incredibly hard year personally and struggled through some pretty severe things. I thought it would be beneficial for both of us to go out different ways. I am not perfect and never will be.”
The “Something in the Orange” singer, 28, asked for “privacy and space” for both himself and the Barstool Sports host, whose real last name is LaPaglia, as they adjust to no longer being in a relationship.
“With everything I am and to anyone I let down, I am sorry. I try my best in everything. I failed people that love me and mostly myself,” his statement ended.
LaPaglia, 25, released a statement of her own on her Instagram Story shortly after, in which she seemingly responded to Bryan’s post.
“Hey guys I’m feeling really blindsided right now. Gonna hop off social media for a while and attempt to heal privately, when I’m ready I’ll be back and ready to talk,” she wrote. “I love you guys so much thank you for all of your kind words. Remember you are so loved and everything’s always gonna be OK.”
In a YouTube video posted on Tuesday, LaPaglia explained that the breakup happened just one day prior. The BFFs podcast co-host admitted she had no idea Bryan would publicly announce their split so soon.
“I just woke up to Zach posting on his Instagram that we broke up, and I had no idea that post was going up,” she said, while filming herself sitting on the bathroom floor. “He didn’t text me, he didn’t call me.
“How can you give someone everything and love them so unconditionally through stuff that you shouldn’t… and then be discarded of in a few days? It’s really, really heartbreaking.”
LaPaglia later told fans she was not ready to reveal details of their breakup, but she will at some point.
The former couple met for the first time at the ACM Awards in 2023. LaPaglia later confirmed their relationship in July last year, when the podcast host told her listeners they had been hanging out for three weeks but it was “fun and casual.”
They made their red carpet debut in February at the 2024 Grammys, where Bryan won his first Grammy award for his duet with Kacey Musgraves, “I Remember Everything.”
However, fans recently began to speculate the pair were no longer together after they stopped posting about each other on social media. Some Reddit users also posted alleged screenshots of Bryan on the exclusive dating app Raya, furthering breakup rumors.
LaPaglia addressed the breakup rumors during an episode Barstool Sports’ BFFs podcast earlier this month, which she co-hosts with Dave Portnoy and Josh Richards. The episode came shortly after Bryan apologized for “drunkenly” tweeting about his preference for Kanye West over Taylor Swift and appeared to deactivate his X/Twitter account.
“That was a really bad week for me. I deleted all of my social media,” LaPaglia said, when asked about the breakup rumors. “I don’t want to speak for Zach, but he kind of spoke for himself on Instagram. He’s just going through a lot of personal s*** and I feel like I’m taking the brunt of all of it.”
“It was a bad week where we… I mean, it’s crazy,” she continued. “We don’t post each other for a week and it took the internet by storm. He’s going through a lot of personal stuff and I went home and just separated [myself].”
Still, she clarified at the time they were “together now and everything’s OK.”
Just one day before announcing their split, LaPaglia shared a cryptic photo of a note written on yellow paper. The podcaster appeared to write on the paper: “And eventually you’ll find that life goes on, even if you don’t want it to. The days will pass and the world will move while you ask it to stop. You’ll believe life is cruel for continuing on while your feet are stuck.
“You’ll find people and moments to blame for your concrete feet. Then there will come a morning when you wake and realize things go on, life isn’t cruel. Your feet are,” the message read. “The world keeps on spinning in hopes of showing you that you can as well.”
The Independent has contacted representatives for Bryan and LaPaglia for comment.
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