Bachelor Nation\u2019s Serene Russell<\/strong> is giving Us Weekly<\/em> credit for unknowingly playing matchmaker for her and Brendan Morais<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re telling me if I didn\u2019t fly to LA for one night to go to the Us Weekly<\/em> event (I never do that) I wouldn\u2019t have met him??\u201d Russell, 29, wrote alongside a Sunday, April 27, TikTok video<\/a>.<\/p>\n The clip, which was set to Lorde<\/strong>\u2019s song \u201cRibs,\u201d included a video montage of Russell as she was headed to Us<\/em>\u2019 Reality Stars of the Year Party<\/a> back in October 2024. In Russell\u2019s TikTok, she showed clips featuring her hanging out with fellow Bachelor Nation alums Morias, 35, Susie Evans<\/strong>, and Ivan Hall<\/strong> at the star-studded event.<\/p>\n The event was held last fall to honor multiple reality stars, including Kyle Richards<\/strong>, Jenn Tran<\/strong>, Leah Kateb<\/strong>, Lindsay Hubbard<\/strong>, Kristen Doute<\/strong>, Monica Garcia<\/strong>, Taylor Frankie Paul<\/strong> and more.<\/p>\n Six months later, Russell and Morais shocked fans when they hard launched their romance<\/a> on Instagram. The post included a carousel of images of the pair coupled up and was captioned with a simple white heart emoji.<\/p>\n Several members of Bachelor Nation took to the comments to express their joy for the couple.<\/p>\n \u266c Ribs \u2013 Lorde<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cMy people,\u201d Hall replied, while Justin Glaze<\/strong> shared a trio of clapping emojis and Danielle Maltby<\/strong> noted that Russell looked \u201cso happy.\u201d<\/p>\n Fans got to know Russell from Clayton Echard<\/strong>\u2019s season 0f The Bachelor<\/em>, while Morias appeared on Tayshia Adams<\/strong>\u2019 season of The Bachelorette<\/em>. Morias later made headlines for his romance with Pieper James<\/strong>, which occurred before they went on Bachelor in Paradise<\/em> season 7 in June 2021.<\/p>\n During their BiP<\/em> stint, Morias insisted that his relationship with James was \u201csuper casual\u201d while also pursuing a connection with Natasha Parker. When James arrived at the beach, she claimed that they were dating without \u201clabels.\u201d<\/p>\n Morias and James ended up leaving BiP<\/em> together after facing backlash from their fellow contestants. Us<\/em> later confirmed in October 2021 that the pair had called it quits<\/a>.<\/p>\n Russell, for her part, appeared on the following season of BiP where she met Brandon Jones<\/strong>. The twosome ended up getting engaged<\/a>. However, Russell and Jones called it quits<\/a> after a year.<\/p>\n You have successfully subscribed.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n \u201cAfter many months, today we have ultimately decided to end our engagement,\u201d the pair wrote in a joint May 2023 Instagram statement. \u201cWe have tried to work privately on our relationship which has been incredibly challenging in the public eye. This has been immensely hard to accept and painful, as there is a lot of love between the two of us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
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