clean break

‘The One That Got Away’ lovebirds Alex Van Gurp and Jeff Perla have called it quits as boyfriends

By · 7 comments · Updated on January 26, 2024

Two of the stars of Amazon Prime Video reality dating series The One That Got Away have once again gotten away from one another.

Under the watchful eye of host Betty Who, Alex Van Gurp and Jeff Perla reunited on the The One That Got Away set and decided to turn their years-old “besties with benefits” status into something more during the show’s inaugural season in 2022.

Their union lasted longer than most of those featured on the series, but it seems too many real world pressures came into play for these two to stay together romantically.

In a new Instagram post, one of the pair made the situation crystal clear.

Perla simply writes, “We broke up”:

“Thx for the sentimental caption,” Van Gurp comments with a heart-covered smiley face.

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We all have that one “messy Judy.”

The pair shared a joint statement with Out addressing the break and the state of their relationship now.

“I think adding so much pressure to a new relationship added challenges that we didn’t expect,” they write. “With so much time, energy and money involved with the house, it started to feel more like a job than it did a relationship, and I think after a while we realized it was better to end it before we started to resent each other and at least still had a chance of being friends and staying co-owners in our house and business partners.”

The pair had begun construction on a house together in East Hampton, New York after their time on the show, but came to realize their relationship was becoming a load-bearing wall in the project — and one that had to come down.

“We still have a lot of respect and love for each other but recognized we were going down a bad path,” they explain. “At the end of the day, we couldn’t play house forever.”

With their separation, only one couple seen on the show (Adam Drexler and Allyssa Anderson) are still together to date.

Rather than lament their break, let’s celebrate the good times with a stroll down Instagay memory lane:

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Take a look at The One That Got Away for their origin story:

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