TIKTOK star Max Balegde broke down in tears as he confirmed he has split from his boyfriend of five years.
The Sun revealed this week that the influencer, 27, and his boyfriend Andrew Spann have now called time on their relationship.
And things appeared to have not ended amicably as they both unfollowed each other on Instagram.
Max has now broken his silence on the shock split and admitted he’s “losing the plot” and feels “devastated”.
An emotional Max took to social media with a new video as he explained his side of the story.
With tears in his eyes, the content creator started: “Hello everyone, I’m just making this video to let you know that sadly it is true that me and Andrew have broken up after five and a half years of being together.
“We broke up around two weeks ago and obviously it’s been a really sad and tough time.
“There’s been so much love between the two of us, between our family and friends over those years.
“When you’re with someone for that long, your life becomes so intrinsically bonded together and you can’t imagine not having them in your life to be honest with you. That’s kind of how it gets.
“So I’ve been struggling a lot. I am in Ibiza right now, I’ve been here for a week.
“But the narrative online that I’m just partying and don’t give one and he’s all sad, could not be further from the truth.”
Max explained that he had this holiday booked months ago and when the break-up happened, he decided to go to Ibiza with his friends instead of “sobbing alone in his room”.
He shared that he’s been looking after himself and going to the gym and has avoided going out and boozing much.
“I’ve just been spending time with lovely supportive friends who have just been a godsend,” he continued.
Max then addressed the reason behind the split and admitted it was him who decided to end it.
“I know everyone will want an explanation because we shared so much of our relationship with you lot,” he said.
“All I’ll say is I chose to end the relationship for personal reasons that I don’t really want to discuss on the internet and out of respect for Andrew.
“There is so much love there, it’s not hate. It’s just you can’t get everything you need from someone, you have to sometimes face reality and it’s sad and devastating.”
Max admitted he was “losing the plot” as he copes with the new adjustment.
“I’ve never had a break-up like this before, I’ve never experienced anything like this, I don’t know how to navigate it, all I know is I’ve spent a lot of time focusing and looking after a lot of people but now it’s time to focus and look after myself.
“As scary as this is, I’m excited for the future, even though I can’t feel that excitement right now.
“I just feel sad, scared, anxious and depressed.
“But I have a lot of exciting work stuff I want to delve into, time with my friends and family and value the time with myself. I’ve been around people for five and a half years non-stop, I’ve forgotten what it’s like to be by myself.
“That’s terrifying, I’m genuinely terrified.”
Max said he was going to focus on his career and himself going forward.
He added: “If it looks like I’m losing the plot, then it’s because I am, I f***ing am.
“I’m terrified to go home tomorrow but I have to face reality at some point.
“I’ve got to find out where I’m going to end up living, what’s going to happen to our dog.
He then hid his face and said: “I’m going to cry again.”
The media star then thanked his fans for their support and said he was heartbroken as he felt he had “failed” his fans, especially those in the LGBT community.
Max captioned the post: “Please respect both of us, I still have so much love for Andrew and this is a really hard time for us both. thank you for the love.”
His followers raced to show their support for the star.
One wrote: “Sending you so much love… the end of a relationship when you still care for the person is so hard however put all that love into yourself now and everything will fall into place.”
A second said: “This is a very mature way to handle it. You should hold your head up & remember you are so loved.”
Earlier this week, The Sun announced news of the split.
A source told The Sun: “Max and Andrew broke up a few weeks ago and it’s been incredibly tough for both given how long they were together.
“Max is enjoying some time in Ibiza and will be ploughing ahead with work as he navigates the situation.”
Max, who has been on Gogglebox alongside his podcast co-host George Clarke, has been sharing what he’s been up to in Ibiza on his Instagram.
He shared a video of him miming to Ingrid Michaelson’s song Be OK while standing out on his balcony with a huge bottle of water.
The star can be seen wearing a T-shirt with the words ‘Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go to Ibiza’.
The two started dating back in 2021 after they matched on dating app Hinge.
Max and Andrew celebrated their five year anniversary back in April.
Andrew shared a selection of snaps from throughout their relationship with the caption: “Half a decade of us, no biggie.”