YouTube "Teen Mom" star announces split
“Teen Mom: The Next Chapter” star Bariki “Bar” Smith caught the attention of fans on Thursday, May 11 when he announced his split from wife Ashley Jones in a since-deleted Instagram post.
“So we want to clear the air, I have had amazing times and learned so many things from Ashley,” Bar began. “I will forever be grateful for everything but unfortunately we have come to unforeseen issues, and people grow apart.”
He continued, “There is no specific blame being placed on either but we had both respectfully agreed to part ways and continue with life unfortunately without each other. I will always be there when I’m needed and so will she, but the time to separate has come.”
Bar and Ashley secretly tied the knot in 2022 and were planning a wedding to celebrate their love in front of friends and family for the fall of 2023 before Bar announced their split on Instagram.
Fans React to Bar’s Deleted Instagram Post
Ashley and Bar have not spoken publicly about the split since Bar deleted the May 11 Instagram post.
A fan shared a screenshot of Bar’s post on Reddit with the title “Bar & Ashley call it quits!!!”
Fans seemed unconvinced that the couple was over for good. Many fans speculated that if the two are broken up, they will be back together soon.
“They’ll be back together by the summer,” one Reddit user wrote.
“I truly think they will be on/off forever lol,” a second user replied to the thread.
“They’ve been on and off for as long as we’ve seen them on TV,” a third user added. “I have a hard time believing they’re done done.”
“I don’t believe it. I am sure they are/will get back together,” a fourth user wrote.
While Bar has not shared more information about the split, he did tweet about his “heart getting colder” two days before he shared news of the breakup on Instagram.
“Tired of competing for people to love me the way they supposed to, if you ain’t here how you need to [then] I’m not. [My] heart getting colder, just leave me be at this point,” he wrote in a May 9 tweet.
Ashley Opens Up About Her Relationship With Bar
In the past, Bar and Ashley have been open about sharing the ups and downs of their relationship. Bar’s May Instagram post is not the first time the couple has made headlines over breakup rumors.
In an interview with In Touch Weekly in March 2022, Ashley expressed uncertainty over her relationship with Bar.
When asked if she would stand by her husband “no matter what he does” she said, “I don’t know.”
“Some days, I’m ready to call it quits. Some days I’m like, you know what, we’re going the distance,” she told the outlet. “I think it depends on what I’ve eaten, uh, how good I slept … there’s a lot of factors in there.”
In season one of “Teen Mom: Family Reunion,” Ashley shared concerns about her relationship with Bar, telling lifestyle coach Dr. Cheyenne Bryant “Coach B” that something felt off in her relationship with Bar.
“It doesn’t feel like what I thought a marriage would feel like,” she admitted.