Ben Flajnik and Courtney Robertson End Engagement

"It's true," the former Bachelor tells PEOPLE, confirming he and Robertson have ended their engagement

Published on October 5, 2012 05:30 PM

Ben Flajnik and Courtney Robertson tried to prove everyone wrong with their romance, but in the end, the Bachelor star and his controversial fiancée couldn’t make their love last.

The couple, whose courtship was chronicled on ABC’s hit reality show, have ended their engagement, PEOPLE confirms.

“It’s true,” Flajnik told PEOPLE Friday, although he didn’t wish to elaborate on the split.

The pair, who took time apart shortly after Flajnik’s romantic, mountaintop proposal, was back together by the time their season’s After the Final Rose special aired.

“It’s been a rough ride,” Flajnik, 30, told host Chris Harrison at the time. “The woman that I saw on TV isn’t the Courtney that I know,” he said, adding, “Those are the moments and the instances that led to Courtney and I not talking for a time while the show aired. We were essentially broken up.”

But since getting back together, the pair, who took on a long-distance romance, seemed to be going consistently strong by taking things slow.

“We’re still in the early stages so we’re learning a lot about each other, spending as much time with each other,” Flajnik told PEOPLE at the end of April. “We’re slowing acclimating our lives together and our friends together. It’s going really well.”

The exes’ breakup is especially surprising, given their seemingly upbeat photo post earlier this week.

“I have a new appreciation for wine,” Robertson, 29, wrote in a caption that accompanied a shot of her and Flajnik smiling at what appears to be a winery. “It’s amazing to see all the hard work and care that goes into wine making. Very proud of @Benflajnik and the boys!”

Flajnik isn’t moping over the split. On Friday, he posted on Sulia, through a link from his Twitter account, “Welp, another weekend ahead and there is so much going on in San Francisco. I can’t even begin to tell you how crazy of a weekend it’s going to be.”