The Bachelor alum Carly Waddell has shared an update on her relationship with Evan Bass just over two years after their split.
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"I mean, it was hard and it sucked so bad, but it was all the right choices in the long run."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
Carly and Evan, who fell in love on Bachelor in Paradise's third season in 2016, got married in June 2017 and welcomed two children together: Isabella "Bella" Evelyn, 5, and Charles "Charlie" Wolf, 3.
However, Carly and Evan announced their split in December 2020. Carly revealed in a YouTube video at the time that Evan had initiated their separation.
Carly said co-parenting with Evan since their breakup has actually been "really easy" since he's "done this before" with his first wife and their sons.
"He has three older kids. The oldest one is now, like, 21 [or] 22. And the middle one's going off to college. His kids are older, he's raised them since they were babies. He knows what he's doing," Carly explained.
Carly said she has their children "80 percent of the time," and Bella and Charlie spend time with their dad every other weekend.
"I remember at first I was like, 'Oh my gosh, like, what are they doing over there?'" Carly said.
"But now I'm just like, 'He's got it.' If there's ever a problem, like, a sickness or something, then we talk about it and we work it out. But it's not a problem. It's very easy."
Carly also recalled how the former couple's divorce mediator had explained how the kids wouldn't "remember" what it was like for their parents to be married.
"I was like, 'Oh, that's kind of sad.' But [now] I'm like, 'No, that's actually really great,' because, you know, if mommy gets a new boyfriend, daddy gets a new girlfriend [or] if we get married, there's never going to be that, like, 'I don't like her because that's not mom,'" Carly reasoned.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOWThe former cruise ship singer -- who initially appeared on Chris Soules' season of The Bachelor followed by two stints on Bachelor in Paradise -- added, "That won't be a problem for us."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
Carly's good friend and fellow The Bachelor alum Juelia Kinney will be tying the knot with Evan's brother Aaron Bass in June.
"I'm not [going] but it's just because with the kids and the flying to Mexico. First off, they don't have passports yet -- which I could probably rush -- but it's a lot of people I haven't seen in a very long time," Carly shared.
"And I talked to her about it; she totally understands. I was like, 'I don't want to distract from your big day.' Because if I'm there, I just feel like lots of people could be uncomfortable, and we don't need that to be the focus."
Carly therefore said she's going to FaceTime with Juelia the whole day and drink champagne with the bride virtually.
"So I'm going to be there [in spirit], but I'm not going to be there. It's [Evan's] brother, so it's his family and friends, and I think that takes priority," Carly said.
Meanwhile, Carly has been working on launching a music career. Her first single, "Your Friends Like Me More," dropped on Monday, May 1, according to Us.
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"Why does everything have to do with [our relationship]? It's not! Let people think what they want... [but] I'm not Taylor Swift," she joked. "It's not about Evan! People can interpret however they want to -- they're going to do it anyway."
Carly's second song, "Two Little Angels," will reportedly be released on May 12 from her six-song EP.
"That's really about my children," Carly said of the song.
"It's also about, like, in a relationship should you stay together just because you have kids or not. And it doesn't give an answer because I don't think there's a correct answer for that."
"At the end of the day, you're left with these beautiful children and it's the greatest gift you could possibly have... There's a lot in there that I added in for a dramatic effect that didn't happen," Carly concluded.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
Evan spoke about his split from Carly and what went wrong during a June 2022 episode of the "Talking It Out with Bachelor Nation" podcast.
"Paradise gives you a kind of foundation that's very -- there's nothing going on, right? You just have to work on your relationship. And you talk about real-life stuff and for me, it was very genuine, and I think when you get out, that transition, I think that's probably where we missed it," Evan explained.
Evan hinted that he and Carly had major differences at the core of their romance.
Evan said he and Carly struggled with "communicating about values and just communication in general [and] figuring out how to work through life."
"I have obviously other children that aren't with Carly, and so, there was just a lot to work through," Evan noted.
"And so, yeah, I just don't think we set the foundation in the way that we should have."
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After Evan and Carly met on Bachelor in Paradise's third season in 2016, Evan proposed on the finale. They were then shown tying the knot during a Season 4 episode of The Bachelor spinoff.
Carly proceeded to give birth to Bella in February 2018 and then Charlie in November 2019.
After three years of marriage, the pair announced their "difficult decision to separate" in December 2020.
Carly admitted divorce "just sucks" but she expected time would heal her wounds, and Evan acknowledged how the pain from his breakup was "real."
"I have done a ton of therapy, like I started doing -- I've been doing therapy for years, but I made sure that it was every week. I did every kind of therapy method," Evan revealed, adding how he had even tried "hypnotherapy."
Evan said he began dieting and "jumped into the gym and started beasting out, as much as a father of five can" after his divorce from Carly.
Evan admitted going through two divorces was "sobering" as well as "terrible" and "embarrassing," and he still wasn't "out of" the woods in terms of feeling healed and whole again.
"I still feel like it's hard talking about it, I feel emotional just thinking about it. It's a deep sadness still," Evan said at the time.
"And I don't know if you ever just get completely perfect. There's the scars and the wounds. They heal, but they're also there to teach you, and teach me, and I'm trying my best."
Evan also wrote in June 2022 on Instagram Stories how divorce felt like "death" and it was a "horrible" time for him.
Evan, however, claimed on social media that a lot of what had been reported "ain't true" and he certainly wasn't seeking revenge on his ex.
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"As an aside, there are also no sides in a divorce with kids [because] the kids are the only damn side to take and how dare y'all tryna take sides back in the day."
But Evan apparently didn't consider either of his two marriages to be a mistake considering he learned and grew from them both.
Evan also shared how his kids "handled [the divorce] really well," although they were "bummed out" Evan's relationship with Carly didn't work out for the long run.
Evan noted how he and Carly were finding their "groove" and co-parenting was going "great."
But Evan -- who married his first wife after less than four months of dating and then married Carly in one year of dating -- joked, "I should probably wait a very long time before I get married again... [but] I love love... and I really want to be with someone."
Evan, who had a vasectomy after his fifth child, also said he'd "of course" do Bachelor in Paradise again.
When Carly and Evan met in Mexico on Bachelor in Paradise, Evan pursued Carly with determination only to face resistance in the beginning of the season, but Carly slowly fell in love with his quirks and personality.
Prior to appearing on Paradise, Carly competed for Chris Soules' heart on The Bachelor's nineteenth season and experienced serious heartbreak on Season 2 of Bachelor in Paradise when Kirk DeWindt unexpectedly dumped her during the final days of filming.
Evan found fame when he competed on JoJo Fletcher's edition of The Bachelorette.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
