Bachelor in Paradise star Josh Murray suffered the heartbreaking loss of his beloved dog, Sabel, just two days before Christmas, and despite their recent split, his ex, Amanda Stanton, didn’t hesitate to offer her support.
Fans of the Bachelor franchise who follow Josh on social media know how much he loved his dog, Sabel. Last January, Murray tweeted that the dog had cancer, and by the time filming for Bachelor in Paradise rolled around, the sweet pup had undergone chemotherapy and had a leg amputated.
On Friday afternoon, Josh revealed on Twitter that he was headed to the vet with Sabel and tweeted that he was “praying” that all was okay. A few hours later, he shared the sad news on both Instagram and Twitter that Sabel had died, but did not share the dog’s cause of death.
Today I lost my best friend – a huge piece of me is gone, I miss her so much #Sabel pic.twitter.com/PnzI5V0aYx
— Josh Allan Murray (@JoshAllanMurray) December 23, 2016
“Today I lost my best friend,” Josh wrote. “A huge piece of me is gone. I miss her so much.”
It didn’t take long for Amanda Stanton, who got engaged to Josh on Bachelor in Paradise last summer, to post her own tribute to Sabel, prompting some fans to question whether blogger Reality Steve’s report that the couple broke up was true or if they were just taking a a break.
Sabel’s death comes just about a week after Josh moved out of Amanda’s California home and drove cross-country with the dog to his home in Atlanta.
Amanda and Josh have yet to release a statement about their rumored breakup, but according to a previous report from the Inquisitr , the couple will appear on the January 1 Bachelor: Countdown to Nick special to talk about the status of their relationship.
Most Bachelor franchise couples who break off their engagements issue a formal statement about their split to either People magazine or Us Weekly , but Josh and Amanda have remained silent about their relationship.
When Josh and Andi Dorfman — who got engaged on The Bachelorette Season 10 — broke off their engagement in January, 2015, E! Online broke the news with a joint statement from the couple who promised to “continue to be good friends” and say “nothing but good things about each other.”
Sure enough, the “good things” didn’t last long, especially after Andi released a tell-all book, It’s Not Okay , in June, 2016, about her relationship with Josh in which she called him an “emotional abuser.”
The book was published right before Amanda met Josh while filming Bachelor in Paradise. The couple got engaged despite warnings from friends on the show about Josh and Amanda’s blatant refusal to read Andi’s book.
Although it is painfully obvious from their social media accounts that Amanda and Josh are not together anymore, it’s possible that producers of the upcoming Bachelor special have asked them not to issue a statement until their taped sit-down with host Chris Harrison airs on January 1.
And while Amanda’s video tribute to Josh’s deceased dog shows that she still cares about her ex, it’s certainly not confirmation that the couple is back together. Reality Steve is certain that once their official breakup statement is released they won’t have “glowing reviews” of each other.
“As was the case during the Andi break up, I also fully expect some mud slinging to happen between both camps after the statement comes out,” Steve wrote in a recent blog post. “Neither side is going to have glowing reviews of the other person, I can pretty much guarantee that based on what I’m already hearing come out of both camps.”
Fans can expect to get the details of Josh and Amanda’s split during the Bachelor: Countdown to Nick special on January 1 at 8 p.m. ET.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3fVpG3YIkc
[Featured Image by Frazier Harrison/Getty Images]