‘BIP’: Carly Waddell Reveals She and Evan Bass Had Been Struggling for 2 Years Before Split

'Bachelor in Paradise' couple Evan Bass and Carly Waddell recently announced that they were splitting up. Now, Waddell has opened up about the breakup.

by Christina Montford

Published on January 4, 2021

2 min read

From meeting to marriage: Carly Waddell and Evan Bass’ journey

Waddell first joined Bachelor nation when she appeared on Chris Soules’ season of The Bachelor. Once the season ended, she went to Paradise for season 2. She dated Kirk DeWindt for most of the season until he blindsided her with a breakup.

After JoJo Fletcher’s season of The Bachelorette, Bass appeared on season 3 of BIP. He immediately was drawn to Waddell but she wasn’t into him. After one of the most cringeworthy kisses in BIP history and a surprise trip to the hospital, the two began to bond and ended the season engaged.

Unlike most couples who get engaged on the show, Bass and Waddell actually got married. Their wedding was included in season 4 of Bachelor in Paradise. In 2018, they had their first child, Isabella Evelyn, and in 2019, they welcomed a baby boy, Charles Wolfe.

Carly and Evan’s breakup

After 4 years together, the two decided to call it quits.

“We have made the difficult decision to separate,” they said in a statement. “We will always cherish our time together and continue to have the utmost respect for one another as we focus on what’s best for the future of our family. We greatly appreciate everyone’s love and support and kindly ask that you please respect our family’s privacy as we navigate through this.”

Details about the split

Bass and Waddell had been pretty open about their relationship and family on their YouTube channel. In a recent video, Waddell opened up about her and Bass’ split.

“I call this the divorce room because this is where Evan told me he wanted a divorce,” she said. “He was sitting right where I’m sitting.”

“There’s been weird stuff going on about people asking me when we separated,” she said. “We separated a day after Thanksgiving.”

Though the split may have seemed sudden to fans, it definitely wasn’t a hasty decision.

“We tried for a really long time to make it work,” she said. “We focused a lot more on the kids than we focused on ourselves and ultimately I think that was probably our biggest downfall. The kids came at the top of the pyramid and we never put ourselves at the top.

“The last two years have just been really hard,”she said. “I always told him that if he wanted out then it was his call because I’m just a person that would never be out. So, what are you gonna do? If somebody doesn’t want to be with you, they don’t want to be with you.”

Though the split has been hard on Waddell, she is hopeful for the future.

“I think that 2021 is gonna be just great,” she said. “I’m focusing on the future and this is the last time I really want to talk about any of this because I don’t want to be sad anymore.

“I want to be happy because I deserve it.”