It wasn’t that long ago that we thought Dale Moss and Clare Crawley would be planning their wedding.
Instead?
They’re currently plotting… against each other.
To see who can garner the most sympathy from residents and viewers of Bachelor Nation.
In the recent wake of their split, both the former Bachelorette and her chosen suitor have been taking to social media in order to express their downright sadness over the development.
Crawley just wrote about the dark place in which she’s been stuck for the past several days.
Moss said he’s been praying after taking a mental health break.
And now Dale is back with a new Instagram Live video that features the former football player crying and opening way, way up to his many followers.
“I talk so much with family and friends about everything that’s gone on.
“This situation with Clare, it’s f–king sucked, you know,” Dale says in the footage, which depicts him sitting by the ocean.
“And I think everyone looks for a right answer, a right way to handle these things, someone for guidance and there really f—king isn’t one.”
Dale went on to say he’s “feeling shaken right now,” continuing by taking a broader view of life and the situation at hand.
“This has been a learning experience for me, as someone who’s had to provide for everybody all the time, for friends, family, and if I was hurting, not even having an option to stop and just having to keep going for everyone else.
“And trying to move forward each and every day.”
It’s around this point in the video that Dale wipes away tearrs.
He gets really emotional, you guys.
“This has f–king rocked me. I felt so many emotions, so much guilt, but also so much confusion, so much hurt, and I know that we both have.
“And looking for so many answers before this even happened on how to make things better.
‘But the reality of it is, life isn’t perfect. And we make mistakes. I’ve made a lot of them, I know we all do.
“My pops would always say you gotta hurt before you heal. I’ve been f–king hurting. A lot.”
Moss proposed to Clare on an episode of The Bachelorette, despite only knowing her for a few weeks.
The engaged duo then spoke to many magazines and outlets, insisting their love was real and looking ahead to a future as husband and wife; father and mother.
Then, two months later, Moss broke up with Crawley.
He has since denied rumors that he cheated on Clare with a New York-based real estate agent.
The ex-athlete, who confirmed his split from the Bachelorette star on January 19, recalled praying for his life to change a little over three years ago.
“I remember it clear as day, like praying, just with so much stuff that happened in life, with family and having to keep going,” he said.
“I got so numb, just f–king cold and numb to feeling where nothing would phase me, and I remember sitting and praying like, I just want to feel again, I want to fight again, I’m tired of going through things, you know, being alone.
“And then, you always have these ideas for how things are supposed to go, what you’ll stand for, what you’ll put up with, what you want out of a relationship, what you want out of love.
“And when you really fall that s–t goes out the f–king window.”
Dale was far from done, too:
“The smallest thing can cut you the deepest, and I think about this year, just with everything that’s gone on … so many people trying to keep their head above water in so many ways and act like everything’s OK, but f–k, we all go through it and I think the biggest thing is knowing that’s OK.
“And you can’t do everything, you can’t be everything for everybody.”
Moss went Live one day after Crawley shared her own video and confessed she’s been “struggling” with anxiety amid the breakup, “trying really hard to come back” from the “dark place” she’d been in.
Dale said he didn’t know why he chose to do the Live apart from wanting to “be honest” and to “just let you know this is real.”
And, you know, to compete against Clare for the title of Saddest Story Telller..
It’s hard not to think that, you know?
“The things people go through is real,” Dale went on.
“Understanding and what I’ve learned in this situation. Even if you feel low, it does get better.
“Also just thinking about a lot about what I’ve wanted out of life. What I used to want and how things have changed so much this year.
“I just feel f–king wrecked and I thought the things that would make me feel better, the things I thought would make me feel better ended up making me feel worse.”
Moss also appeared to address all that cheating speculation:
“I don’t have all the answers.
“I know there’s a lot of things circulating and people will say whatever. I do know that we had …
“There’s a lot more good out there than bad and I know that I’ve experienced that and I’m working through this situation the best way that I can.”
Did he sleep around behind Clare’s back?
“I’m man enough to understand and realize mistakes and things that I’ve done,” he said.
“[I’m] trying to put pride aside, pray more and just try to make the best decisions moving forward, so it takes time. All this s–t takes time. And I see a lot of people saying, ‘God’s got you, follow your heart.’
“Everyone’s going to tell you what you should and shouldn’t do. And in a lot of situations, you’re going to look for answers and direction and there’s no f—king way to find one.
“I think at the end of the day, it’s about doing what makes you happy and nothing in life is permanent.”
Moss concluded his more than 11-minute-long video by thanking fans who’ve “sent so much love and support, not only to myself also to Clare.”
“I know she has been f–king going through it,” he said.
“And whatever the case, I know that we will figure this out together, whatever it is.”
