'Bachelorette' Emily Maynard, Jef Holm split

Emily Maynard and Jef Holm, who became engaged on the most recent season of ABC's "The Bachelorette," have confirmed their breakup, ending weeks of speculation.

"I am sorry to tell you that Jef and I have, indeed, parted ways," Maynard, 26, told People magazine in a statement. "It was a very difficult and heartbreaking decision."

Holm, 28, in his own statement to the magazine, insisted that, "What we shared was completely genuine and real" but that nonetheless, "We have decided to break up. Emily will always have a special place in my heart. I don't regret a single second I spent with her or [Maynard's daughter] Ricki. . . . Who knows what tomorrow will bring but we are moving on to the next chapter of our lives."

Maynard was photographed Wednesday without her engagement ring while visiting a fast-food restaurant in her hometown of Charlotte, N.C., said E! Online.

Holm moved to Charlotte last month, said Us Weekly, but has been spending considerable time in Los Angeles promoting People Water, the Utah-based bottled-water and social-activism company he co-founded. Single-mom Maynard has been raising Ricki, 7. She told The Charlotte Observer in May that, "I haven't been working a full-time job, but I teach a jewelry class at a middle school here."