Yep, they're still together. Brad Womack and fiancee Emily Maynard checked out the SXSW music festival near Womack's home in Austin, Tex. on Tuesday. It was the couple's first public appearance since Monday's emotional Bachelor finale -- and rampant post-show rumors of a breakup (Maynard still wore sported Neil Lane engagement ring).
But on Tuesday, Womack himself both assured fans and acknowledged some trouble in paradise, in a statement: "At long last, Emily and I can be open to the world and each other about our relationship. Though we are madly in love, it has been a bumpy couple of months for us and our priority right now is to focus on our relationship. We hope that you can respect our privacy as we return to normalcy and begin our off-screen lives together."
Brad Womack's Ex DeAnna Pappas Hopes He and Emily Work It Out
Are Brad Womack and bride-to-be Emily Maynard on the rocks already? After millions of viewers tuned in to see Womack, 38, ask for single mom Maynard's hand in marriage, a source said that the pair have engaged in "knockdown drag-out fights" and broken up multiple times since the South African proposal. According to a source, things got so intense that the Bachelor couple even called off their March 8 Anguilla wedding.
What went wrong? According to a Maynard source, Womack "just freaked out" two weeks after taping the finale in South Africa. Adds another insider: "I'm not so sure they'll get married."
Despite being rejected by Womack during the 2007 Bachelor finale, DeAnna Pappas tells UsMagazine.com she hopes that Womack can patch things up with Maynard, 25. "I obviously hope that Brad and Emily can made their relationship work. This situation, The Bachelor, is such a tough situation to be in, let alone to make a relationship work," Pappas, 28, tells Us.
Not that Pappas is too surprised to see the Bachelor couple in trouble. "I'm sure that all the tabloids and drama in the press have not helped their situation," she says. "I feel like Brad has changed and he seems to be really smitten with Emily, although I am not seeing the same response from Emily."
With Pappas about to tie the knot herself -- she accepted a 2.12-carat white gold ring from Stephen Stagliano, 26, last May -- she hopes her former flame will finally find true happiness. "Only Brad and Emily know their relationship the best. We can all only just support them through it," Pappas tells Us. "Watching Monday night, as well as every season, always brings back memories for me, good and bad. I am so appreciative for my experience on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. It has led me to where I am meant to be in life."
