The Real Reason Paris Hilton And Chris Zylka Broke Up

In news that, well, most of us saw coming, Paris Hilton and fiance Chris Zylka have called off their engagement. It happened in early November 2018, a source close to Hilton told Just Jared, adding, "Their relationship started to become off-kilter after about two years together." Another source told Us Weekly on November 19, 2018 that the 37-year-old former reality star did the dumping "a couple of weeks ago," adding, "Paris realized it wasn't meant to be and he wasn't right for her. There were some problems along the way. She's done."

Hilton and Zylka, 33, seemed to be going strong when they got engaged in January 2018. At the time, Hilton gushed to People, "I am so excited to be engaged to the love of my life and my best friend. I have never felt so happy, safe and loved. He is perfect for me in every way and showed me that fairy tales really do exist!"

Or maybe not, because they've called it quits. Here's why this one-time fairy tale had an unhappy ending.

The official reason Paris Hilton and her crew have given for putting off her wedding to Chris Zylka up to this point was that she was just too busy with her career to take a break to walk down the aisle. In August 2018, Hilton's mother, Kathy, told TMZ that her daughter was wrapped up in promoting her umpteenth new fragrance and skincare line and didn't have time to devote to getting to the altar just yet. Asked if there was "anything to worry about" in regards to the wedding, Kathy said,"No, no, no no," adding, "Literally, [Paris] does not have the time right now." Kathy also denied that Paris had cold feet, adding of Paris and Chris, "They seem to really enjoy each another's company."

Paris told People in August 2018 of her postponed 2019 nuptials, "I want to be able to be relaxed, not stressed out and not having to rush off to a different country the next day. I want to be able to go directly from my wedding to my honeymoon and with my schedule [right now] that would be impossible."

She added, "We're both just working so much and decided it would be much better just to push it to next year. With all the planning I want it to be perfect and you can't rush something like this."

Despite insisting she was just so busy with work that she couldn't get married, insiders close to the heiress say that she never really had any intention of tying the knot with The Leftovers actor. They'd initially slated their nuptials for Nov. 11, 2018 — 11/11 — but, well, that came and went without a wedding.

"The 11/11 thing was never a set date. It was just, 11/11 is something I love because I always say, '11:11, make a wish for good luck,'" Hilton told People. "So Chris was like, 'Oh let's do it on 11/11. That's such a special number for you.'" However a source later told People, "This wedding was never going to happen ... They never had an engagement party and Chris' parents never even met Paris' parents."

The source went on to say that a huge red flag for the would-be marriage was the fact that that the couple "postponed the 11/11 date without a new date," and that Hilton just had a case of wedding fever after getting "caught up" in her sister Nicky's nuptials. "It was never going to work with Chris," the source added. Yeesh. 

As of yet, Paris Hilton hasn't issued an actual statement on her split from Chris Zylka. Instead, she posted a video of herself as Marilyn Monroe on Instagram with a quote purportedly from the legendary film siren, in which Hilton possibly hints that perhaps Zylka wasn't entirely honest with her during their two-year romance.

"I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go. Things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right," she wrote. "You believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself. And sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together."

Her Monroe-inspired post came shortly after another video, in which Hilton flipped her hair to the tune of Ne-Yo's "Miss Independent." Subtle!

The massive, 20-carat pear-shaped diamond engagement ring Chris Zylka reportedly bought for Paris Hilton was worth a whopping $2 million. As a non-marquee named actor, it likely would have broken his bank, but TMZ reports that the jeweler from whom he purchased the boulder-sized bling had a close relationship with Hilton, so Zylka probably got a hefty discount. In any event, Zylka wants that ring back, and Hilton still has it, as of this writing.

Legally, since Hilton is the one who broke off the engagement, she has to return the ring to Zylka — California law specifies that engagement rings are conditional gifts, and if the wedding doesn't happen, the recipient of the ring has to hand it over to the purchaser. Sources told TMZ that while Zylka and Hilton haven't seen each other since their split, he's expecting her to return the rock, even if he hasn't officially asked her to do so yet.

It should bother her too much: Hilton actually lost the ring in March 2018 at an Above and Beyond concert, tweeting, "The ring was just so heavy and big that while I was dancing it literally flew off my finger into an ice bucket a couple of tables over. Thank God by some miracle my fiancé found it before someone else did and most likely would not have returned it. I am so lucky!"

Paris Hilton valued Chris Zylka so much that she lost her engagement ring. He valued her so much that he tattooed her name on his arm.

"Such a lucky girl!" Hilton captioned a since-deleted Instagram of Zylka's now-unfortunate ink (via the Mirror). "My love surprised me & got my name tattooed in #Disney font. And said cause I'm his most magical place on Earth & he finally found his fairytale princess. #BoyfriendGoals."

Hilton and Zylka packed on the PDA like crazy throughout their relationship, with People somehow having exclusive photos of Zylka down on one knee proposing to Hilton in the snow in Aspen, Colo., which isn't exactly a paparazzi hot spot unless a star's team calls ahead of time. However, a source told E! News that despite the couple keeping up appearances, they'd had problems for a while.

"Paris and Chris have been having issues for over six months now. They pushed back the wedding because Paris was having cold feet and didn't know if she was ready to marry him," the source said. "They had a great run and they really loved each other, but she knew he was not her forever guy and could not go through the whole process while having these feelings."

Chris Zylka and Paris Hilton may or may not have had a prenuptial agreement in place when they planned to tie the knot, depending on which of them you ask. When TMZ cameras caught up with the couple at LAX in March 2018, Zylka grumbled, "Any gentleman that's about to marry a very wealthy and well-established businesswoman wouldn't be a gentleman to bring up a prenup in the first place. So, yes, of course we're going to have one. Something that was supposed to stay private, but it's okay."

A grinning Hilton quipped, "We don't need one, because we're going to be together forever." 

Though Hilton insisted a prenup wasn't necessary, her aunt, Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards told TMZ, "hell yeah" she needed one, while Hilton's father, Rick, and mother Kathy seemed to be split on the issue. Rick advised TMZ in general that wealthy people should have prenups, while Kathy, initially confused, then said, "You don't go into a marriage thinking like that."

If Chris Zylka's dating history is any indication, his split from Paris Hilton may get ugly, because he's previously demonstrated a pattern of being petty, vindictive, and public about his breakups.

In September 2012, Zylka split from Pretty Little Liars star Lucy Hale after about eight months together. After the breakup, he tweeted that Hale "decided she was too good." He quickly backtracked (via Us Weekly) through a bunch of effusive tweets that included multiple apologies to Hale, as well as compliments regarding her talent and beauty. "I apologize for tarnishing any view anyone has on this amazing woman," Zylka tweeted, adding, "I had the honor of loving her. That love will never fade ... The last thing I want to do is be any reason for her to look bad in any way. She a remarkable human with an infectious personality, and a heart bigger than anyone's I've ever known."

It wasn't the only time he publicly slammed an ex. He was engaged to model and fashion designer Hanna Beth (picture above) in 2015, and when they split, he went on another social media rant, calling her "fake," and accusing her of dating another man behind his back and "backstabbing" him, E! News reported. Though he later deleted his tweets and Instagram posts, he concluded his tirade with, "All the things I've said tonight are things that I looked over and gave my everything too [sic]."