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The Daily Dish The Real Housewives of Orange County

Jo De La Rosa Confirms She Ended Her Second Engagement and Teases Some Big Plans for Her Future

The RHOC alum sheds some light on her former romance and why she decided to call it off.

By Jocelyn Vena

In her first Instagram post since December 2016, The Real Housewives of Orange County alum Jo De La Rosa broke her social media silence to announce that she had called off her engagement to Mark Lovette, the CEO and founder of the media company Empire Digital. The pair had become engaged in November 2015. It's unclear when she ended things with Mark, but she did offer some insight into why on social media.

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“'I’m just not happy anymore and I want to build the life of my dreams,' I cried to my mom with tears rolling down my face. I had just called off my second engagement and felt like my world was falling apart," she shared in the lengthy and emotional post on Instagram. RHOC viewers will recall she had been previously engaged to Slade Smiley (clip below), who is now engaged to and expecting a baby with Gretchen Rossi.

Breaking Up on Camera

The post continues, “'Then you should go do that,' she responded as she gave me a hug. 'It’s too late to start over. What if I’m not good enough? What if I fail?' I replied. 'What if you don’t?' she responded so I packed up everything I had and moved back to L.A."

Jo, who appeared on RHOC for the first two seasons, noted that "starting over is hard" and went on to describe how she's feeling these days in the wake of her split and starting over again. As she noted, she moved to Los Angeles, but didn't offer any additional info on what she's currently up to in the City of Angels these days. In 2016, she confirmed to The Daily Dish she had been working in advertising and was also on the verge of launching her own fashion, beauty, and lifestyle site, Champagne & Milk.

"Posting on social media pretending like your life is 'perfect' going through it for me was even harder. Sometimes you need to step away, figure out what the hell you’re doing with your life, cry until you can’t cry anymore. Then one day, you wipe the tears from your eyes and you’re able to stand back up trusting that God or whatever you believe in has you as you start your life over again."

When The Daily Dish spoke to Jo back in 2016, she described Mark as "one of the most incredible men in my life and the person I was truly supposed to be with," she said. "I really felt like I found the person that I was [meant for]. I really feel like God brought me more than I could have ever prayed for and I'm really happy. He's wonderful."

Did Gretchen Break Girl Code?

However, it seems, something changed for them. "I lost myself in my last relationship and learning how to believe in myself again has been one of the hardest parts of my journey but what’s even harder is looking back and knowing you settled for a life you didn’t truly love," she wrote.

You can read her full statement, below.

View this post on Instagram

“I’m just not happy anymore and I want to build the life of my dreams” I cried to my mom with tears rolling down my face. I had just called off my second engagement and felt like my world was falling apart. ✨ “Then you should go do that” she responded as she gave me a hug. “It’s too late to start over. What if I’m not good enough? What if I fail?” I replied. “What if you don’t?” she responded so I packed up everything I had and moved back to LA. ✨ Some people say “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” but what some people don’t tell you is sometimes “what doesn’t kill you knocks you down on your ass for longer than you’d like to admit.” ✨ Starting over is hard. Posting on social media pretending like your life is “perfect” going through it for me was even harder. Sometimes you need to step away, figure out what the hell you’re doing with your life, cry until you can’t cry anymore. Then one day, you wipe the tears from your eyes and you’re able to stand back up trusting that God or whatever you believe in has you as you start your life over again. ✨ This is for the girl who’s in the middle of going through it. This is for the girl thinking about calling it off. This is for the girl starting her life completely over: YOU are good enough. YOU can do this. YOU deserve to be happy and YOU will get through this – YOU are not alone! ✨ I lost myself in my last relationship and learning how to believe in myself again has been one of the hardest parts of my journey but what’s even harder is looking back and knowing you settled for a life you didn’t truly love. ✨ Have you ever been scared of starting over? Double tap if you have and tag a friend you feel needs encouragement! Here to love and support you on your journey and to those starting over, to the next chapter of our lives! 💕#thirdtimesacharm #alittlecupofjo

A post shared by Jo De La Rosa (@justjodelarosa) on

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