'We will continue to spread love separately forever': Love is Blind couple announce split after a year together

Dounia Al Ibrahim and Chafic Yactine, stars of Love is Blind Habibi, have officially announced they have separated.

They took to their respective Instagram accounts to post a statement addressing their break up, months after speculation first began that they were no longer together.

They posted a similar messages to their Stories informing fans of the breakdown of their relationship.

“Today, we want to announce the end of our love story together,” 25-year-old Dounia’s message began. “As we always say, we plan but God decides.” She went on with a kind comment about her ex: “Chafic will forever remain a special person in my heart, and we thank you for supporting [us as a] couple and for the memories we’ve created together.”

The reality star admitted that it will be a challenge for them both to adapt to life without one another, but said it was not God’s plan for them to be together. She did not elaborate on the reason behind their split. “We ask you to please respect our decision and understand that this isn’t the easiest period for us to go through,” she wrote, before adding, “But when God decides, we cannot do anything about it.”

She ended the statement with the message: “We will continue to spread love separately forever.”

The couple had been together for more than a year, as their relationship blossomed after meeting on Love Is Blind Habibi.

They met in the pods and quickly became fan favourites. The two bonded over deep conversations about their childhood, ambitions, morals, and passions. But, they decided to call off their wedding on the show despite their strong bond as they felt it was too quick.

But, they remained committed to each other and said they still wanted to be together, officially becoming boyfriend and girlfriend in the real world. They then got engaged in November last year.

But, in recent weeks, fans had noticed less interaction between the pair online and saw that many of their previous joint posts had been deleted, which led to fears they had broken up.

Back in January, fans commented that the pair were no longer posting online about each other and then, in March, Dounia appeared to celebrate her birthday without Chafic, aged 28. At the time, however, the now ex-couple responded to fan’s questions by saying they hadn’t split up but were taking time and space to figure things out between them.