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Survivor star Bret LaBelle & TikToker Chris Stanley announce breakup
Chris Stanley and Bret LaBelle appear together in an Instagram video.
The 51-year-old Survivor alum and the 25-year-old social media star are no longer a couple.
Bret LaBelle, known for competing on Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X, announced that his relationship with social media star Chris Stanley has come to an end. Despite the misconceptions faced by the couple as a result of their 27-year age gap, LaBelle and Stanley reportedly dated since 2022 and surprised fans with news of their breakup.
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LaBelle, a 51-year-old lieutenant at the Boston Police Department, became a reality TV star in 2016 while competing on Survivor. Stanley, a 25-year-old social media influencer, consistently shared photos and videos of them together as a happy couple.
Alas, LaBelle announced their breakup in an Instagram post on Monday, April 28 that reads:
"Sometimes love means letting go. Chris and I have shared so many memories, laughter, and growth together, and I will always be grateful for that. While our paths are now going in different directions, the care and respect remain. Wishing him nothing but happiness, love, and success on his journey. Thank you for the memories."
LaBelle also shared the post via Instagram story, audio-tagging it with "The Night We Met" by Lord Huron.
A couple of reality TV stars left messages for LaBelle and Stanley in the comments section of the breakup post. Big Brother 23 runner-up Derek Frazier wrote, "[Crying face emoji] I love you both [heart emoji]." Squid Game: The Challenge star Dash Katz commented, "Love yall [mending heart emoji]."
From Dedham, Massachusetts, Bret LaBelle made his reality TV debut as a competitor on Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X — an intergenerational season of the long-running competition series that aired on CBS back in 2016. LaBelle made it to final five of the competition, but was voted out on Day 37 and became the ninth (second to last!) jury member of the season.
Two years later, LaBelle returned to reality TV as a contestant on The Amazing Race 31 and competed as a duo along with his Survivor costar Chris Hammons. Despite being a pretty strong pair, LaBelle and Hammons made it halfway through that season and finished sixth overall.
Chris Stanley is self-described gay content creator known by his fans as @stanchris. Overall, Stanley has 64.3 million likes on TikTok and over 1 million followers in the video-sharing app. He also has a massive audience on YouTube (468,000 subscribers) and on Instagram (368,000 followers).
@stanchrissss showing my short boyfriend places he’s never seen before! #boyfriend #short #couple #funny #gaytiktok (ib: @GayFatFriend)
In an interview with The Advocate's Christopher Wiggins from August 2023, the celebrity couple revealed that they met each other during the later years of the lockdown.
LaBelle, who was 49 during the interview, came across Stanley's profile on social media and subsequently slid into the social media influencer's DMs to ask for a date. A then-23-year-old Stanley told The Advocate that he went on to watch LaBelle's season of Survivor and became charmed with the reality TV star.
Both Stanley and LaBelle discussed the many times they were questioned about their relationship and how some people had confused them for being father and son. In any case, they didn't seem preoccupied with that judgment coming from the outside world.
"Sometimes people make the outrageous claim that I was 'groomed' or something," Stanley told The Advocate at the time, adding that he was the "one who pursued [LaBelle]."
@stanchrissss my parents confronted my BF 😳 #couple #parents #boyfriend
In December 2023, Page Six reported on a viral video in which Stanley talked about buying a Christmas tree for their home. Upon reaching the checkout area, it became evident that that the female cashier assumed that LaBelle was Stanley's father. "[Stanley] recalled looking at LaBelle, who subtly shook his head to indicate that he did not care to inform the woman they were a couple," the story reads.
Stanley told the publication, "'So I'm just like, 'Yeah, yeah. That's my dad.' And I'm left wondering what the look would have been like on her face if I had told her."
Bernardo Sim is the deputy editor of Out. He's also a staff contributor to The Advocate, PRIDE, and other equalpride publications. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida.
You can follow Bernardo Sim on Instagram. Otherwise, you can find him on Bluesky, Threads, X/Twitter, and TikTok.
Bernardo Sim is the deputy editor of Out. He's also a staff contributor to The Advocate, PRIDE, and other equalpride publications. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida.
You can follow Bernardo Sim on Instagram. Otherwise, you can find him on Bluesky, Threads, X/Twitter, and TikTok.
