Former “Bachelorette” star Rachel Lindsay is speaking out about the recent news that she and husband Bryan Abasolo have split up.
Lindsay opened the Jan. 5 episode of her podcast, “Higher Learning,” by saying she’s processing everything after Abasolo announced on Instagram Jan. 2 that they are divorcing.
“I didn’t think I would get emotional,” she said. “First off, I just want to say thank you for people who reached out. I’m still trying to reply to people. You just never know how great your circle is until you see all the people that reach out and love you.”
Lindsay said she decided to do the podcast to get away from her divorce, but won’t divulge any details at this point.
“Obviously it’s a difficult time, if you’ve read the headlines, and you’re probably wondering why I would even work. But, to be honest with you, I need to distract myself from myself and the best way to do that is to do something that I love, and I love ‘Higher Learning,’” she said.
“And so I am going to try my best to get through this podcast. But I’m not going to talk about it. I will eventually, but now is not the time. Just trying to take it day by day.”
Abasolo had said in his Instagram post that ending their union was not an easy call, but it felt like the right thing to do.
“After more than 4 years of marriage, Rachel and I have made the difficult decision to part ways and start anew,” he wrote about the split. “My parents have been married forever and I’m a family man, but sometimes loving yourself and your partner means you must let go.”
The couple met when Lindsay appeared as the first Black woman on “The Bachelorette” on Season 13 of the ABC series, after she made her debut on Nick Viall’s season of “The Bachelor.” They eventually got married in a destination wedding in Cancun in 2019.
“It was so good. It was so much fun,” Lindsay told "Access Hollywood" about her wedding.
“It did not disappoint. We partied till 2 in the morning. Bryan had blisters on his feet. He left in hotel slippers,” she added.
As recently as this past November, Lindsay said she and Abasolo wanted to start a family. A month later, though, she got candid about how rough 2023 was for her.
“This has not been my year. A lot of changes, a lot of growth,” she said on “The Viall Files,” a podcast hosted by Viall.