'Bachelorette' Becca Kufrin reveals she has ended her engagement

Season 14 "The Bachelorette" star Becca Kufrin has confirmed that she and that season's winner, the controversial Garrett Yrigoyen, have ended their engagement.

"I did want to take just a couple of minutes to address what's been going on with me and in my relationship over these past couple of months," Kufrin, 30, said on her and season 13 star Rachel Lindsay's podcast "Bachelor Happy Hour" Tuesday. "I know that there has been so much speculation and curiosity out there regarding where … [he] and I stand … so I don't think it's going to come as a shock to anyone, but Garrett and I have decided to end our engagement."

Kufrin went on to say, "If you have followed us on Instagram for the past couple of months you'll have noticed that I spent a lot of time in Minnesota," where she was born and raised and where she worked as a publicist in 2018 when she starred on the ABC dating competition. "I was with family and close friends and he was out on the West Coast doing the same. And we were really just trying to take time and gain some clarity on as to what was the next, best step in our lives, whether that was together or as individuals."

The last time either of them had appeared on the other's Instagram feed was on May 11,  when she wrote, "Hey … remember when you opened the ring box backwards? That's when I knew I was in for the time of my life. Two years down, hopefully 68 more to go. I love you G." Yrigoyen, 31, then a Reno, Nevada, surgical-tech salesman and now a self-described influencer through his website, captioned a photo of the two kissing at an idyllic oceanside. "I've learned precisely 730 new things about you and from you. Something new every day. Happy 2 year, love you B," he wrote.

Their early relationship had become complicated after Yrigoyen "liked" social-media memes that mocked transgender people, feminists, the Black Lives Matter movement, children living in the country without legal permission, and others including Parkland massacre survivor David Hogg, which a post had falsely deemed a "crisis actor." Yrigoyen subsequently apologized, writing on Instagram, "I am sorry to those who I offended, and I also take full responsibility for my 'likes' on Instagram that were hurtful and offensive."

"Y'know, we went on this crazy TV show over two years ago in hopes of finding love and we were lucky enough that we did," Kufrin said Tuesday. Sobbing, she added, "We really, truly did and I'm so grateful for that opportunity and to have had the two-plus years with Garrett." Having said earlier on the podcast that "it's not for me to divulge details," she concluded by saying, "Life happens and people sometimes drift apart and have differences and they go their separate ways."