Bachelor Nation has been rooting for Brandon Jones and Serene Russell since the beginning of season 8 of Bachelor in Paradise.
After hitting it off during a September 2022 episode, the duo quickly fell for each other.
“Brandon, I have always yearned for a life-changing love, but I had never seen it or experienced it firsthand. But then I met you,” the Bachelor season 26 alum said during the November 2022 finale. “I feel like we have two hearts cut from the same cloth and I have never felt more seen or understood in my entire life. In you, I have found my best friend, my missing puzzle piece and my soulmate. I love you so much and I’m never going to take that for granted.”
The Bachelorette season 17 alum subsequently proposed — which Russell saw coming.
“This one wears his heart on his sleeve, so I had no doubts at all on proposal day,” Russell exclusively told Us Weekly in November 2022 with a laugh. “I mean, there’s always that nervous feeling, like you said, where it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh,’ because when you start to care so much and love someone so much, you obviously have that pit feeling where you’re like, ‘I hope that this works out’ — you want it to because it means so much. But I didn’t have any doubts.”
While their romance has seemed like a fairy tale on screen, the couple admits that they went through “little growing pains here and there” after leaving Mexico.
“We went straight from seeing each other 20 hours a day to staying inside and couldn’t be with each other,” Jones said, agreeing with Russell that they do “bicker sometimes” and “fight” like “normal couple[s]” do. “Like [when she buys] random things on Amazon, she’s like, ‘Hey can you put this together for me?’”
Russell interjected to admit that her list for Jones is “never-ending.”
Still, they are smitten.
“I had never had anybody look at me like [he did]. It’s one thing to experience someone’s words and then experience their actions. I’m getting it all from him at the same time,” the Oklahoma native gushed. “He wears his heart on his sleeve and I never have to guess how he’s feeling. That’s something that I said I needed coming off of Bachelor. I was like, ‘I don’t want to do the guesswork. I want someone that’s gonna be intentional with me.’ … And that’s exactly [Brandon].”
Post-show, the twosome revealed that they are moving in together in San Diego.
“Serene is moving down. I already have the spot and she’s already been moving stuff over. Once we’re able to go out in public, she’s going to be there and we’re really going to start our lives together,” he revealed.
Scroll through for Jones and Russell’s relationship timeline:
Bachelor Nation has been rooting for Brandon Jones and Serene Russell since the beginning of season 8 of Bachelor in Paradise.
After hitting it off during a September 2022 episode, the duo quickly fell for each other.
“Brandon, I have always yearned for a life-changing love, but I had never seen it or experienced it firsthand. But then I met you,” the Bachelor season 26 alum said during the November 2022 finale. “I feel like we have two hearts cut from the same cloth and I have never felt more seen or understood in my entire life. In you, I have found my best friend, my missing puzzle piece and my soulmate. I love you so much and I’m never going to take that for granted.”
The Bachelorette season 17 alum subsequently proposed — which Russell saw coming.
“This one wears his heart on his sleeve, so I had no doubts at all on proposal day,” Russell exclusively told Us Weekly in November 2022 with a laugh. “I mean, there’s always that nervous feeling, like you said, where it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh,’ because when you start to care so much and love someone so much, you obviously have that pit feeling where you’re like, ‘I hope that this works out’ — you want it to because it means so much. But I didn’t have any doubts.”
While their romance has seemed like a fairy tale on screen, the couple admits that they went through “little growing pains here and there” after leaving Mexico.
“We went straight from seeing each other 20 hours a day to staying inside and couldn’t be with each other,” Jones said, agreeing with Russell that they do “bicker sometimes” and “fight” like “normal couple[s]” do. “Like [when she buys] random things on Amazon, she’s like, ‘Hey can you put this together for me?’”
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Russell interjected to admit that her list for Jones is “never-ending.”
Still, they are smitten.
“I had never had anybody look at me like [he did]. It’s one thing to experience someone’s words and then experience their actions. I’m getting it all from him at the same time,” the Oklahoma native gushed. “He wears his heart on his sleeve and I never have to guess how he’s feeling. That’s something that I said I needed coming off of Bachelor. I was like, ‘I don’t want to do the guesswork. I want someone that’s gonna be intentional with me.’ … And that’s exactly [Brandon].”
Post-show, the twosome revealed that they are moving in together in San Diego.
“Serene is moving down. I already have the spot and she’s already been moving stuff over. Once we’re able to go out in public, she’s going to be there and we’re really going to start our lives together,” he revealed.
Scroll through for Jones and Russell’s relationship timeline:
Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin
Pre-Show Attraction
“This woman is amazing! Oh my gosh, that’s my pick,” Jones said while watching his friend Clayton Echard meet Russell on season 26 of The Bachelor in January 2022.
Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin
Meeting
Jones wasted no time pulling Russell when he arrived during the September 28, 2022, episode.
Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin
In Love on Their 1st 1-on-1
The twosome confessed they were falling in love with each other during their first official one-on-one.
“It has been so easy and just really special, and you’ve gone out of your way [for me]. Even just the little things, whenever you grab lunch, you grab me lunch too,” Russell said. “Or just how comfortable we are. And I’ve always needed that and always wanted that. You just doing those things for me makes me feel like I’m deserving of all of the things that I want and have needed from someone, and I’ve never experienced that before.”
“You are deserving and so much more. When I saw you, [I knew] I didn’t want to be with anyone else but you,” he said. “I’m falling in love with you, and I am so happy that I am. I’m so happy that my life led me to you.”
Credit: ABC/Stewart Cook
Engagement
Their proposal was taped in June 2022 and aired that November.
“Serene Brook Russell, I love you. I love you in every sense of the word. You are this ever-lasting spark that has hit me so hard, and I have come to the beautiful realization that from the moment I saw you, my happily ever after could’ve never started until I started a life with you,” he said before popping the question. “I will love you until the end of the time. I will love you until my last breath. … Serene Brook Russell, will you make me the happiest man to walk this earth? Will you marry me?”
Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin
November 2022
The pair revealed that they are planning to wed in 2024.
“We know we wanna get married in 2024,” she gushed to Us. “We’re thinking about, like, time of year and all of that. But we’re still in the stages of being super excited for where we’re at. We haven’t gotten to walk out in public as an engaged couple yet, so we’re really enjoying this time. But I would be lying if I wasn’t, like, on wedding TikTok just saving stuff. … I have a collection for wedding ideas already!”
Credit: Instagram/ Brandon Jones
December 2022
Brandon gave his fiancée a sweet smooch during their first Christmas together.
