Brianna Chickenfry says she feels ‘blindsided’ after Zach Bryan announces they’ve broken up

Influencer Brianna LaPaglia, aka “Brianna Chickenfry,” is expressing her shock after country singer Zach Bryan announced their split on social media.

In an Instagram Story posted on Oct. 22, Bryan revealed that he and LaPaglia had split, adding, “I respect and love her with every ounce of my heart.”

“She has loved me unconditionally for a long time and for that I will always thank her,” he continued.

The “Something in the Orange” singer explained that he felt the two had to separate after he “had an incredibly difficult year personally and struggled with some pretty serious things.”

“I’m not perfect and I never will be. Please respect Brianna’s privacy and space in this and if you have this in your heart, mine too,” he wrote. “With everything I am and anyone I’ve let down, I’m sorry. I do my best in everything. I failed the people who love me and most of all myself.”

About an hour after Bryan posed, LaPaglia also took to her Instagram Story, sharing that she was feeling “really blindsided.”

“Hey guys, I’m feeling really blindsided right now. I’m going to get off social media for a while and try to heal in private, when I’m ready I’ll be back and ready to talk,” she wrote.

LaPaglia then thanked her followers for their “kind words” before writing, “Remember that you are loved so much and everything will always be okay.”

In a follow-up video shared on YouTube, LaPaglia reiterated that she was “completely blindsided” by Instagram’s announcement.

“I just woke up to Zach posting on his Instagram that we broke up and I had no idea that post was being published,” she said. “He didn’t text me. He didn’t call me.

LaPaglia explained that she was only asked to check Bryan’s post when she received messages asking if she was okay.

“I was completely blindsided by this. I also really feel like it – see how swollen my face is? I’ve been crying for five days straight,” she said.

“I’m at the point where it’s like how can you give someone everything and love them so unconditionally – through things you shouldn’t, but you just love them and see the good in them – like, how can you.. .give every ounce of yourself to someone and then be discarded in a few days?” she continued. “It’s very, very painful.”

LaPaglia said he doesn’t want to talk about the details of the split at this time, but added that he will eventually.

“Right now, I wanted to heal in private and I didn’t even know he was going to post this. And we finished yesterday,” she said. “So I wasn’t ready to do anything publicly.”

She then asked people to respect her privacy and for her to “talk about everything” when she was ready, also thanking people for their “kind messages.”

“I’ll be fine. I’ll be fine. Obviously I’m very, very hurt right now,” she said.

When did Zach Bryan and Brianna Chickenfry start dating?

The “Barstool Sports” host first announced that she was “seeing” Bryan for three weeks on a July 2023 episode of her “PlanBri Uncut” podcast.

“It’s fun, it’s casual and yeah, I just wanted to talk about it because the whole internet is going crazy and people are doing shit,” she said.

About a month later, LaPaglia publicly called herself Bryan’s girlfriend for the first time on an August 2023 episode of her podcast “BFFs,” which she co-hosts with Dave Portnoy and Josh Richards.

At the time, she explained that she initially kept the relationship a secret because “I just got out of a relationship, he just got out of a relationship,” but decided to go public when a photo went viral.

On July 14, LaPaglia shared a series of photos with Bryan on their one-year anniversary, writing that it was “a year filled with more love than I thought I was capable of and laughter louder than any year before.”

“You made me appreciate all the things that were always right in front of me. You brought me back to my family and helped me love myself again,” she captioned the post. “There is absolutely nothing I wouldn’t do for you. My person forever. I love you my Zachary.

LaPaglia’s most recent post with Bryan was on October 11, where she shared a photo of him holding a guitar next to her. She wrote: “How are you going to live a life you want to look back on?”

Bryan primarily posts about his music on his Instagram page, but the singer shared a similar photo on the same day as LaPaglia with the location set to Los Angeles.

He captioned the post: “We will lose loved ones and never let them die, we will grow and keep them alive, it will take undeniable steam, our timing will sometimes be wrong, you will chase the unknown and give. too much.”

This article originally appeared on TODAY.com