The sad rumor has become an unfortunate reality:

Tayshia Adams and Zac Clark have called off their engagement.

Talk of serious trouble between the former Bachelorette and her selected suitor first surfaced a few days ago.

Initial reports, however, only indicated that Adams and Clark were on a break.

Now, though, numerous outlets have confirmed that this isn't a mere break. It is a break... up.

The current Bachelorette co-host and her now-former fiancé are "no longer a couple," Tayshia's rep has told E! News.

The split comes less than a year after the pair got engaged on The Bachelorette and a mere two weeks after they ran the New York City marathon together.

Zac proposed to Tayshia during the show's finale, which aired in December 2020, after Adams took over as the series lead that season for Clare Crawley.

"I can't picture another day, another moment without you in my life," Clark said to Adams on air.

"And if you'll let me, I'm going to choose you right now. I'm going to choose you tomorrow morning.

"I'm going to choose you next week and next year. I'm going to choose you forever, because I love you. Marry me."

Adams, of course, responded at the time with an emotional and enthusiastic yes.

So... where did such a fairy tale romance go wrong?

"Things have been strained through the fall. Both of their schedules have been really tough," a People Magazine source says of Adams, adding:

"Tayshia has been very busy and Zac also has a lot on his plate.

"Scheduling time together was just very difficult."

Adams, of course, has been co-hosting the last two season of The Bachelorette, as cited above, while Clark works as the co-founder of Release Recovery, an addiction treatment center and transitional living facility.

"She's also way more comfortable in the spotlight because of her job and he's much less so," the People insider continues.

"At the end of the day, they're very different people. They're both good people — she's amazing and he's a great guy and very passionate about his work.

"But they're a total mismatch."

Interesting, right?

But also maybe not the whole story.

According to The Sun, Adams called off the engagement -- and she did so after a major recent argument.

“They fought a lot and this one was bad like some of the others but it just happened to be the fight that broke the camel's back," claims this publication.

"Their fights would start small but unravel and explode.”

As for what led to this ugly back and forth?

"She has asked him to work on that controlling aspect of himself but it's only gotten worse as their relationship went on," The Sun alleges.

Concluded this source:

“The more her career took off, the more controlling he would be. He hated not having her around a lot of the time with her being primarily in Los Angeles or traveling for filming.

“It was like they lived two separate lives. It seemed like he was jealous of her too, with a lot of new opportunities opening up for her while he stayed in her shadow.

“He wasn't secure enough to handle her success."

It's worth noting that neither Adams nor Clark has commented on their break-up.

We wish both sides the best going forward.