Image Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin
Danielle Maltby gave her side of the story after her split from boyfriend Michael Allio. The couple, who met on season 8 of Bachelor in Paradise, broke up following weeks of split rumors.
“I was very, very blindsided by it,” Danielle, 37, said on her “WoMed” podcast on Friday, September 22. “Obviously [I’m] still very emotional and hurt and confused. I still don’t really have any answers. I’m in it.”
She claimed she was “shocked” when Michael, 39, broke up with her one day after she underwent an egg retrieval procedure.
“What’s hard in talking about this really isn’t the procedure itself, it’s what came after,” she explained. “And I just need to get it out there so that people can stop asking questions and I can just move forward. But the day after Michael and I got home from freezing my eggs, he … he broke up with me and I was very, very blindsided by it. Obviously still very emotional and hurt and confused. I still don’t really have any answers.”
Michael responded to her claims on that same day, stating that he wanted to “clear things up” via his social media due to a “narrative going around” that was part “true” and part “false.”
“I’m not stranger to critique. I know that I’m incredibly flawed and I know that Danielle is a very good person but I do need to clear things up. Because certain things are a little bit off,” he alleged, noting that his intention isn’t about “winning an argument” but because “there is just truth out there and I’m happy to assist.”
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Michael first confirmed their split during the September 17 episode of Jason Tartick’s Trading Secrets podcast.
“I guess I’ll just come out with it. We’re not together anymore,” Michael said. “Yeah it’s really, it’s not what we planned. We both threw a lot into this relationship, and it’s really awful when it doesn’t work out.”
Michael and Danielle at a ‘BIP’ rose ceremony. (ABC/Craig Sjodin)
Although Danielle and Michael officially met on the beach in Mexico in June 2022, their love story actually began before that. It started after Michael was introduced to viewers as a contestant on season 17 of The Bachelorette with Katie Thurston, and he opened up about losing his wife to cancer. Danielle, who was on season 21 of The Bachelor with Nick Viall, reached out to Michael on social media, as her fiance had previously died from a drug overdose.
The two were able to connect over their shared traumas, and they formed a friendship online. However, they didn’t actually meet in person until Danielle’s arrival in Paradise. Michael was one of the original cast members in season 8, and he initially formed a connection with Sierra Jackson. After ending their relationship, though, Michael was ready to pack his bags and head home.
Danielle arrived at the perfect time, and she made Michael want to give the process another chance. The two were thrilled to take their online friendship to the real world, and they began dating on the show. In addition to their physical attraction and emotional connection, Danielle and Michael were both also on the same page about wanting to take things slow.
Although they did not get engaged in Paradise, Michael and Danielle agreed to leave the show as a couple. At the time, she was living in Nashville, while he was in Ohio with his son. At the live reunion show in Nov. 2022, they confirmed they were still together, and shortly afterward, Danielle moved to Ohio to be with Michael.
