Courtney Dober Lily McManus Break Up Winter Games

Photo: Courtesy of ABC.

When I'm not thinking about Pete Davidson and Ariana Grande, I'm thinking about Lily McManus and Courtney Dober. The two may not have "won" Bachelor Winter Games with their sports skill or any kind of engagement, but they were the only couple I was rooting for by the end of the show. Their connection was genuine despite how ill-fitted both of them were for that type of reality show, and it continued into the real world. The two vlogged together! I mean, how do you get more perfect than that?

In a Q&A video, the couple stressed that they weren't getting married or moving in together anytime soon. Instead, they were just going to date as normal. It's what made them such a breath of fresh air to follow, and makes what I'm about to say so difficult: McManus and Dober have broken up.

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And, of course, they announced it in a way that is just as honest and sweet and funny as they always are. In separate Instagram posts — McManus's featuring a video of Dober and Dober's featuring a deleted Winter Games scene — they spoke about their decision to end the relationship. However, not in a laborious, heavy-handed celebrity-type way, but with love and respect and, most importantly, friendship.

Court is a bloody good man, every fiber of his being. He is possibly the most high functioning man I have ever met for someone who has a diet of 98% street van tacos. He’s good with his hands, he gets worried if I’m cold, puts together a solid peppermint tea, average joke teller, lives pretty well with a full force caffeine addiction, doesn’t mind being the little spoon, froths a peanut M&M, will talk shit about other people houses with me. It makes my eyes leak a little bit but myself and Court have decided to split on mutual terms. I love Court with every ounce of my being, that long limbed fuck will be a part of my life for a very long time. You guys watched us fall in love and it was honestly just as magical as it looked in real life. I never thought I’d be the type of woman to fall in love on TV but now I am that bitch. I am a believer. I’m so glad I jumped in an RV with you after making it out of the love cult alive, I wouldn’t change a thing Court. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me. I’m so confident that you’ll find every single thing in life that makes you happy, if you can’t do it then there’s absolutely no hope for the rest of us. maybe in another life we’ll eat tacos, play tonsil hockey, swim in the ocean and park RV’s in post office car parks. I can already feel the “love is dead” comments brewing but I can promise you guys it is 100% alive and well. @courtneydober

A post shared by LILY MCMANUS (@lilymcmanus) on Aug 27, 2018 at 6:26pm PDT

Wish i didn't have to do this... Unfortunately it's the world we live in, so here it is. There's probably not many of you who'll understand this or even be able to relate, but Lily and i have chosen not to end our relationship but to continue it as mates. We're best friends and its become clear to both of us that the emotional side of our relationship just doesn't allow us to be the best versions of ourselves. Perhaps in a world where there are no distractions, no life obstacles, nothing else mattered and looking into the future wasn't even a thought, things might be different... but that's not reality and we've decided that this is for the best. Now, to this deleted scene from the adventure where we met. This video captures us. My crappy humor, our vulnerability, your witty replies, our many similarities including drinking beers from shoes but most of all the moment we both took a chance with each other. In my eyes this was the moment our relationship began, 8 months, 2 weeks and 2 days ago. Man time flies... I love ya kid. At 21 i've never met someone who's lived so many lives, acheived so much and who's still so ambitious and ready take over the world. Since moving here you've lived in about 6 different apts, had 2 cars towed and crushed, you're writing books, a tv series, starring in Amazon shows, studying to be an actress, trying to be an insta hoe, being an insta hoe and you've only had 3 nervous breakdowns. That's impressive! Above all this you've had to deal with an old man who's knees pre date the dinosaurs and whose just trying to keep up. Seriously, I'm very proud of you. Google lists your net worth at 15 million and although its perhaps slightly off right now, i have no doubt that one day you'll be worth double. I've always lived under the motto - "Everything happens for a reason" and i have no doubt we were meant to meet. In Vermont all we ever heard from everyone else was "Lily and Courtney, they're the exact same person". It was kind of creepy but very refreshing. (Plus you're a much more attractive reflection than I'm used to) The granny panty wearing crab woman is back on the market, make sure you like to live fast or you'll struggle to keep up.

A post shared by Courtney Dober (@courtneydober) on Aug 27, 2018 at 6:27pm PDT

"It makes my eyes leak a little bit but myself and Court have decided to split on mutual terms," McManus captioned her video. "I love Court with every ounce of my being, that long limbed fuck will be a part of my life for a very long time." Iconic!

Dober's post is similar, assuring his followers that, "Lily and i have chosen not to end our relationship but to continue it as mates. We're best friends and its become clear to both of us that the emotional side of our relationship just doesn't allow us to be the best versions of ourselves." Jesus Christ, how am I even jealous of their breakup?

And I know what you're going to say, but McManus says "don't."

"I can already feel the 'love is dead' comments brewing," she concluded. "But I can promise you guys it is 100% alive and well."

As far as I'm concerned, this is still a Bachelor success story.

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