Selling Sunset star Jason Oppenheim has admitted his breakup with Chrishell Stause is still "raw" and he's finding it "difficult" to move on from the woman he never stopped loving.
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"I think that I made the right decision for myself, but also I think it's just extremely difficult," Jason, 45, recently told Us Weekly.
"I love her still. I always will. She's a great woman so there's just a lot of loss there."
Season 5 of Selling Sunset was released Friday on Netflix and began with Chrishell, 40, and Jason going public with their relationship and announcing they were dating.
The season ended with them breaking up after Chrishell told Jason that she couldn't remain with him unless he wanted to start a family with her -- but he decided that he didn't want that life for himself.
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Chrishell and Jason, a real estate broker who owns the Los Angeles real estate firm Oppenheim Group where Chrishell works, announced in December 2021 they had decided to call it quits on their romance after dating for less than one year.
"It's far more difficult than I thought and it's gonna take a lot longer than I thought," Jason admitted.
"It doesn't help that I have to rewatch it and then go to a reunion and talk about it. It's gonna be a tough few weeks ahead."
Selling Sunset's fifth-season reunion filmed this past weekend and will be released for streaming on Netflix on May 6.
"Chrishell has influenced me, shown me happiness, love and what it's like to be with someone that you have so much respect for. If there was really anything that was truly exceptional about our relationship, it was the calm, the communication and just the ease," Jason shared.
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"Chrishell, I think it's fair to say is a game changer and an eye-opener. She definitely showed me a lot of things about how a relationship should be."
Jason and Chrishell, who also competed on Dancing with the Stars in 2020, split five months after going public with their romance.
At the time of their breakup announcement, Jason told Us that he and Chrishell "have different wants regarding a family."
"While Chrishell and I are no longer together, we remain best friends we will always love and support one another. She was the most amazing girlfriend I've ever had, and it was the happiest and most fulfilling relationship of my life," Jason reportedly wrote via his Instagram Story in December 2021.
"Chrishell is an exceptional human being and loving her and having her in my life is one of the best things that has ever happened to me."
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And Chrishell also called her romance with the CEO "incredible" in an Instagram post of her own.
"Jason was and is my best friend, and other than our ideas for family ultimately not being aligned, the amount of respect and love we have for each other will not change going forward," Chrishell explained.
"Although my initial reaction to a private situation was to not speak on it, sometimes it's easier to just live transparently because we only get one chance at this life. I very much hope to one day have a family and decisions I make at this point are with that goal in mind. Thank you for the kindness and support to those that understand."
Chrishell and Jason confirmed they were dating in July 2021 while vacationing in Italy with several of their fellow Selling Sunset co-stars.
"Chrishell and I became close friends and it has developed into an amazing relationship," Jason told the magazine at the time. "I care about her deeply and we're very happy together."
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Jason revealed in December that Chrishell had been the one who wanted to keep their relationship under wraps and off-screen while filming Season 4 of Selling Sunset.
"I think when [a relationship is] public, it puts a lot of just added pressures and publicity and opinion," Jason explained to Us at the time.
"I think it's nice to kind of start a relationship in the way that normal relationships kind of grow and progress. And that's just between two people."
Jason also apparently gave Chrishell the power to choose when to tell their friends and co-workers about their change in relationship status.
"I think that we were both more comfortable with that approach, and I liked that," he added at the time.
"I followed her lead on things, and I respected her decision making on that. I think that that's the right approach for anyone."
The former couple eventually received support from their co-workers at the Oppenheim Group, but Chrishell faced some criticism and online scrutiny.
One hater on Instagram reportedly wrote how Chrishell was only "getting listings and selling them" because of her boss-turned-boyfriend.
"It would seem I am not the miserable one here," Chrishell fired back on Instagram late last year.
"When you are an agent on TV, you end up getting so much business you have to refer it out to others Bc there is only so much time in a day. The days of getting more listings because of rank in the office are long gone. But please take a [breath] and have a great day! Thanks for watching!!!!"
Chrishell was previously married to This is Us star Justin Hartley. The pair finalized their divorce in February 2021, more than a year after Justin filed for divorce in November 2019.
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In addition to her Selling Sunset gig, Chrishell competed on Dancing with the Stars' 29th season with pro partner Gleb Savchenko. She and Gleb were eliminated during the series' November 2 broadcast in 2020.
Chrishell's Dancing with the Stars exit was unfortunately plagued with rumors.
Speculation swirled Gleb and Chrishell were hooking up or secretly dating during and after their Dancing with the Stars stint when news broke of Gleb's seemingly sudden and unexpected split from his wife of 14 years, Elena Samodanova.
But Chrishell and Gleb both publicly denied having a flirty relationship and being romantically involved in any way. They both insisted last year that their dynamic was totally innocent and platonic.
Shortly after the Dancing with the Stars season wrapped, pro dancer Keo Motsepe revealed in December 2020 that he and Chrishell were dating.
ABC executive Robert Mills shocked The Bachelorette fans that same month when he told Nick Viall on "The Viall Files" podcast that Chrishell had actually been producers' first choice to star on Season 4 of The Bachelorette, which was revived for Summer 2008 broadcast after having been off the air since 2005.
"We were looking for people, and our casting director said, 'Oh, we should meet with this girl, Chrishell Stause. She's amazing,'" Rob recalled.
"And we had this incredible lunch. I think it was at the Beverly Hills Hotel and she was just awesome. I was convinced, 'This is the Bachelorette. This is the Bachelorette.'"
But producers decided to go in a different direction and cast DeAnna Pappas as The Bachelorette star once America watched Brad Womack break her heart twice.
When Brad first starred as the Bachelor, he rejected both of his Final 2 bachelorettes, DeAnna and Jenni Croft, and then dumped DeaAnna a second time on After the Final Rose.