‘Bachelor in Paradise’ Couple Kendall Long, Joe Amabile Split

One of Bachelor in Paradise’s strongest couples is over. Joe “Grocery Store Joe” Amabile and Kendall Long had Bachelor Nation in tears after splitting during the first part of the season finale Monday.

Kendall and Joe have been together since the second day in Paradise, but Kendall’s wandering eye has led to problems for the couple in the past when it comes to her romantic dalliances with Leo Dottavio and John Graham. Heading into the finale rose ceremony Monday, however, the couple appeared to be doing well, with Joe even half-joking about proposing to his lady by the time the ABC reality series comes to an end Tuesday.

The joke seemed to really freak Kendall out, however, leading her to ghost her boyfriend for a full day after complaining about feeling “weird” about their situation. The following day, the two finally came together to discuss the future of their relationship, and things weren’t looking good for Joe from the start.

“I got a sense of [the relationship] being not because we genuinely wanted to, but because we felt like we had to,” Kendall told a shocked Joe, who responded that he had been “falling in love with you since day two.”

“I haven’t kissed or went on a date with anyone else…” he replied. “The truth is, you don’t know how you feel about me. You found so many different excuses, were looking for excuses not to be with me.”

And despite Kendall saying she was “freaked out” by her own emotions, Joe could see the writing on the wall.

“We’re just not in the same place. That’s what I’ve been scared of this whole time,” he said. “The fact that you’re not happy about where were at after everything is the answer.”

With that, Joe decided his time in Paradise had come to a close, and left Mexico right then, heartbroken and shocked at how quickly things had devolved.

“I guess we were friends,” he said in the car leaving Paradise. “I thought we had something way stronger than that.”

Part two of the Bachelor in Paradise finale airs Tuesday, Sept. 11 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Photo credit: ABC