Breakup Blindside

(bright music) At Headspace Studio. He said, "Yeah, I don't think we're gonna work out. I don't think we want the same things. I don't think I want marriage or kids anytime soon and I don't want them with you." And I was like, "I'm sorry, what?" Today's episode Beth Anne. Statistically, most of us at this point have been here swiping endlessly, perhaps even mindlessly through a deck of humans in hopes that one of them will catch our eye or imagination, and then maybe eventually our hearts. Looking for the one seems like it should be a connective and joyful process. But despite these dating apps' best attempts to make the online pursuit fun, for many, the process can feel cold, stale, and exhausting. That's why when we finally get a match that lights are swiping fire and then checks our boxes beyond the in-app chat, it feels rewarding, it feels like fate, like, ah, finally, and this is what happened to today's guest, Beth Anne, who I think should be the one to tell you more about it, all of it. Let's get into it. ♪ All of those moments we tried ♪ ♪ All of those tears that I cried ♪ ♪ I won't hold on no more ♪ ♪ I gotta let go and walk out that door ♪ What's going on, my name is Shan Boodram. I'm a sex educator and a relationship expert. From Headspace Studios and Frequency Machine, this is "Hung Up." ♪ This is my time ♪ So I got a voice message from Beth Anne breaking down her breakup. Take a listen. (telephone beeping) Hey, Shan, my name is Beth Anne. I was navigating the whole dating apps thing and I seriously thought I'd met literally every single guy in town until I connected with Will on Bumble. My relationship with Will felt like coming home. And you know, we had talked openly about our future, marriage, kids. We even made it through a 10-month deployment, but after all that time, he broke up with me out of nowhere. This breakup has totally shattered my faith that I'll ever find someone. I used to be a hopeless romantic, and now I've become an unhopeless romantic. I'm just not sure where else to turn to get past this. Beth Anne found her person amidst the noise of the apps. She and Will align both in their relationship and with a shared vision for their future. Will represented everything Beth Anne had ever wanted, and then he blew it all up. Let's find out why. (upbeat music) Hi, Beth Anne. Hey, Shan. Thank you so much for reaching out and sharing your story. Okay, so I have a basic idea of what happened, but there's still loads to unpack. Yeah. So let's run it back to the beginning. How did you meet your ex, Will. Yeah, so a bit before I met him, I had just the worst time dating. I'd get...