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Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia confirmed in a statement that she’s taking a step back from her podcast to focus on her mental health following her breakup with singer-songwriter Zach Bryan.
LaPaglia shared the statement on the BFFs podcast TikTok account on Wednesday evening (October 30). LaPaglia teams up with Josh Richards and Dave Portnoy to discuss pop culture on the show. LaPaglia said that although she attended to record a new episode this week, she was “having a very hard time,” and opted to take a break. She said in her statement:
“Hey guys! We tried to record this week but I am having a very hard time figuring out how I want to handle this publicly due to all the backlash. I am going to put my mental health first this week. Josh and Dave want to make sure I do what’s best for me. I need to prioritize the right things this week. I hope you can all understand.”
Bryan confirmed the breakup on his Instagram story earlier this month. He said at that time, in part, that he and LaPaglia “have broken up with each other and I respect and love her with every ounce of my heart. …I thought it would be beneficial for both of us to go our different ways. I am not perfect and never will be. Please respect Brianna’s privacy and space in this and if you have it in your heart, mine too.”
LaPaglia said in a statement of her own that she felt “really blindsided right now.” She further commented about the breakup in an emotional video, stating that Bryan didn’t contact her before he publicly announced the split.
“It’s really, really heartbreaking,” she said. “I don’t wanna talk about details right now. I don’t wanna talk about — I don’t wanna talk about it yet. I will, obviously. But right now, I wanted to heal privately and I didn’t even know that he was going to post that. …when I’m ready to talk about everything that happened, I will. But right now I’m just completely blindsided.”