Jade Roper: Carly and Evan Are Exploring ‘All Avenues’ Amid Divorce

Carly Waddell and Evan Bass are ‘trying to figure out what’s best for them’ after announcing their split, Jade Roper tells Us Weekly — exclusive

The kids come first. Jade Roper reacted to the photos of Carly Waddell and Evan Bass spending time together amid their divorce during an exclusive interview with Us Weekly.

“I think they’re just trying to figure it out, you know, they’re just separated right now,” Roper, 34. told Us while promoting her and Tanner Tolbert’s partnership with Catalina Island’s Once-in-a-Lifetime Zip Line Wedding Festivities. “They’re not officially divorced and with children, I think it’s something that they want to, like, make sure that they exhaust all avenues before they give up on their relationship. … I think she’s happy where she is right now. And I think she’s just kind of trying to figure out what’s best for them.”

Jade Roper Carly Waddell and Evan Bass Are Exploring All Avenues Before Giving Up Their Relationship — Jade Roper, Carly Waddell and Evan Bass. Broadimage/Shutterstock; startraksphoto.com; ABC/Richard Harbaugh

Waddell, 35, and Bass, 38, who share daughter Bella, 3, and son Charlie, 17 months, announced their split in December 2020. Earlier this month, the twosome were spotted dining without their kids on Mother’s Day in Tennessee.

“Carly and Evan wish to have a civil relationship with each other for the best interest of their children,” the former cruise ship singer’s rep said in a statement to E! News on Monday, May 10. ”Carly and Evan shared Mother’s Day together to catch each other up on their lives, and discussed coparenting and the children’s summer schedules.”

When asked whether she’s rooting for a reconciliation, Roper told Us, “I just want [Carly] to be happy. So if that’s what makes her happy, you know, then I’m going to support it. But I just want to see her happy and thriving.”

Waddell and Bass met while filming season 3 of Bachelor in Paradise in 2016 and returned to Mexico for their nuptials the following year. While she has been vocal about their marital woes via her YouTube channel in recent months, Bass stayed mum until his return to social media in late March.

“Obviously, as someone who has just been quiet through this whole process and, like, I feel like I’m an easy target because in the absence of information from one side, you just sort of fill in the gaps or whatever, believe whatever, which is fine,” the erectile dysfunction specialist said on April 4. “But I just want you guys to have some empathy. The problem is when you exchange with [trolls], they get a dopamine rush because they’re getting attention, which is what they deeply want … Then you get mad, and everyone gets mad and it’s no fun.”

One year before Waddell and Bass met on BiP, Roper and Tolbert, 34, fell in love during season 2 of the show. The twosome, who share three kids — Emmy, 3, and sons Brooks, 21 months, and Reed, 5 months — wed in 2016. Now, the duo are helping other couples “take the plunge” with a thrilling Zip Line wedding provided by Catalina Island Company.

“I feel like it’s almost trending now to do more, like, adventure weddings,” Roper told Us. “People get married and they get [married] like right on top of mountains now. And it’s just more intimate weddings, especially now it’s COVID, but they’re doing a zip line wedding, so it’ll be really fun too. We’re witnesses.”