Josh Richards and Nessa Barrett reveal reason behind emotional breakup

TikTok stars Nessa Barrett and Josh Richards have officially broken the news that they are no longer a couple and explained why in an emotional video.

Josh Richards is a former member of the Sway House, leaving the collective alongside Jaden Hossler in early June after Jaden and Bryce Hall were arrested for drug offenses in Texas in May. The 18-year-old started dating fellow TikTok star Nessa Barrett back in October 2019, with the pair boasting a combined 27 million followers on the app.

Nine months later though, the pair have confirmed that they are no longer together, releasing an emotional video that provides fans with an in-depth look at why they chose to end their relationship.

The pair maintained that there is no bad blood between them. Josh said: “There comes a point in a relationship where you realize that maybe it isn’t the best for you guys to be together.”

Nessa also said “We’re drifting apart so we can focus on ourselves” and that “neither of us ever mistreated each other.”

Josh and Nessa explained that they still needed to grow as people, but not with each other and that Nessa needed some time to focus on her music career now she had moved to Los Angeles. They are, however, still staying friends.

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Nessa also explained that she had struggled with social media since they had been in a relationship, saying that she had “encountered a lot of hate” and that her mental health was “destroyed.”

Josh, who recently left the Sway House with Jaden Hossler, said that they felt they had to make a video to talk about it themselves because otherwise, they feared that rumors would spread and that their fans would get the wrong idea.

In the past few days, fans had already been speculating about the status of their relationship, especially after Nessa teased a video with ‘sad news’ on her Instagram story earlier in the week.

In a live video on Thursday, June 18 a fan asked Nessa if she broke up with Josh she said “I did…not”, but with hesitation that many fans took as confirmation there was more to be said.

Fans were devastated about the news. On Josh and Nessa’s video, one comment with more than 1000 likes said “They were the only TikTok couple I liked.” Other commenters lamented the number of TikTok couple break-ups in the last few months which include Chase Hudson and Charli D’Amelio, Cody Orlove and Zoe Laverne, and Isaak Presley and Kenzie Ziegler.