Photo: Instagram
Are the rumors true?
By Rebecca Jane Stokes — Written on May 24, 2019
When a person makes the decision to try out for The Bachelor or The Bachlorette or even Bachelor In Paradise, they are going on an epic journey for love, but it comes at a cost. Part of that cost is realizing that you've invited the public into your love life. While this can be great, it can also mean having a ton more pressure put on your relationship than you ever expected.
Bachelor in Paradise stars Joe Amabile and Kendall Long are learning that first hand now that one simple social media post has set off rumors that the couple are engaged to be married! Wee! Here's what we know about the cute couple's relationship status and if there really is a chance we will hear wedding bells in the future. Are Joe Amabile and Kendall Long engaged?
1. How The Rumor Started
Fans of Bachelor in Paradise got insanely amped when a new rumor started flying around the universe that is Bachelor Nation. Joe Amabile (you may know him as "Grocery Store Joe") and his TV sweetie Kendall Long had fans agog with delight when tongues started wagging about the possibility that these two were actually engaged! What started this rumor? Instagram! Ah yes, visual social media strikes again! In a photo posted on Instagram, Kendall appeared to be wearing a wedding ring. While anyone who appears on a Bachelor show should know better than to casually flash a ring, this one sadly isn't what everyone thought: a sign of engagement, so let's put this to bed.
2. Look Twice
So why exactly did people start thinking that the cute couple was getting ready to head down the altar? It's because of what was going on in the innocent picture that they posted. Joe shared a snap of his beautiful lady friend enjoying a delicious piece of pizza... and what their fans spotted was a big ol' sparky rock plastered onto her finger. Look, it's important that we acknowledge here that Bachelor Nation...is an easily excited group of people. And who can blame them? These shows are designed to help people find the love of their lives, so of course, they're going to see engagements wherever they look. But if they'd looked twice they would have noticed that the ring was actually on Kendall's middle finger.
3. The Skinny
Sure, some diehards devotees could argue that it is an engagement ring and she is wearing it on her middle finger until the couple decides to go public with their big announcement, but come on, that's taking things a little far. Plus, if you really want hard evidence that they aren't engaged all you need to do is look at her Instagram posts. If you examine the photos carefully you'll see that the ring on her middle finger is one she wears pretty darn regularly, making it unlikely that it's an engagement ring. But there are real signs that an engagement could be coming down the pike. After all, the couple recently shared with the world that they are moving into a new place they signed the lease on together.
4. Marriage?
So if they are taking cozy pics constantly, flaunting their love and sharing the news with the media about their plans on sharing a home together, it's clear that this couple is serious. But does it mean that they're planning a wedding to happen sometime soon or at least some kind of epic proposal? Right now if you ask them, the answer is no. They’re not tying the knot anytime soon but they’re extremely happy together. “No, we don’t regret not getting engaged on the show. We take it day by day and we really just enjoy hanging out with each other,” Joe said. “We don’t feel any need for that added pressure of an engagement, but we are solid, so you never know.”
5. The Future
So you heard it from the proverbial horse's mouth: Joe himself publicly said that yes, the couple is very much in love and enjoying all of their time together, but they have no plans to spring a proposal on their adoring public any time soon. “Yeah, we’re just taking it day by day. We want to start traveling together because we really haven’t been able to do much with Dancing With the Stars,” he said. Working on DWTS has taken up a lot of the couple's time, but it's also enabled them to take some pretty amazing trips to places like Los Angeles, NYC and even France! These are the sort of bonding trips that make memories and those memories make a foundation for intimacy. So if you're worried marriage isn't coming, I'd say all you need to do is be a little bit patient.
Rebecca Jane Stokes is a writer living in Brooklyn, New York with her cats, Batman and Margot. She's an experienced generalist with a passion for lifestyle, geek news, pop culture, and true crime. For more of her work, check out her Tumblr.