What Led to Paulie Calafioro and Cara Maria Sorbello’s Split

The Challenge’s Paulie Calafiore is ready to shine a light on what led to the end of his romantic relationship with Cara Maria Sorbello.

“It was tough. You’re dating somebody for seven years. We’re best friends,” Paulie, 37, exclusively shared with Us Weekly before kicking off his Mic Drop Comedy Tour in San Diego, California, on Friday, June 6. “This is my best friend. I could not speak any more highly of this person. Now, with every relationship in seven years, there’s going to be ups and downs.”

After Paulie came out as bisexual in August 2023, the reality star admitted, “Things did change just a little bit.” At the same time, Cara Maria, 39, “understood that realm of things.”

“[There were] just certain viewpoints when it came to things we just didn’t align on,” he claimed. “A lot of those conversations about one day wanting kids and family, those kept coming up, and I just kind of felt like we were at a standstill. I kind of felt like, to me, she was like, ‘I want family and kids.’ And then randomly, I would see things pop up on a story being like, ‘I’ll never have kids. I never want this.’”

While Paulie acknowledges his relationship with Cara Maria was public, he assured Us that many conversations between the pair were and will always remain private.

“Nobody really needs to know the dynamic of it, but we have a really great working relationship,” he told Us about their “cordial” status today. “We’re never not going to be best friends. We’re never not going to be on the same page when it comes to things. As a matter of fact, we’re on the same page at, like, 97 percent of things. It’s just, unfortunately, sometimes that 3 percent are the breaking points. … I know everybody wants to see the dumpster fire. I know everybody wants to see the fireworks and all that stuff, but there’s a lot of love there on both ends here.”

Regardless of what’s been said — or not said – on podcasts, social media and other platforms, Paulie claimed he and Cara Maria are “just at two different points in our lives, and that’s OK.”

“We just have some fundamental differences, and that’s also OK. It’s OK if she doesn’t want to have kids. It’s OK if she just wants to ride horses every day,” he shared. “I wish her all the best, and I’m always gonna have her back if she ever needs something. She knows she can come to me.”

As for the people on the Internet still asking, “What happened?” Paulie assures fans their split is a classic example of two people naturally growing apart.

“We were babies when you met us. Now we’re older kids,” he said. “Over time, priorities change, things change and that’s just that. But I wish her all the best.”

These days Paulie is gearing up his Mic Drop Comedy Tour, which includes stops in California, Arizona, Michigan and Texas.

He’s also exploring the dating field with both men and women.

While the Big Brother alum is keeping his “wild life” off social media, the reality star admitted there’s “no shortage of d**k pics in the DMs.”

Related: Celebrities Who Dated Reality Stars From Other Shows

Reality TV brings people together with many personalities finding love (or at least a hookup) with other reality TV stars. Bravolebrities, for example, are no strangers to crossover hookups. In August 2019, Southern Charmers Craig Conover, Shep Rose and Austen Kroll visited the cast of Summer House at their Hamptons home. During their visit, which […]

“I’m in the prime of my life. I run successful businesses. I make really good money, and I get to pretty much work from wherever I want to work,” he shared. “I’m gonna have my fun for a little bit. I want to say I really need to kind of spread my wings for a good amount of time, because I kind of feel like I’ve really kind of not done that as much as I would have liked to over the last seven years.”

If fans aren’t satisfied, it may be smart to see one of his comedy shows to learn even more about Paulie’s reality.

“I just want to keep it very light-hearted. I want to talk about my upbringing. I want to talk about being Sicilian,” he teased about his upcoming gigs. “I also want to talk about being bisexual, kind of what people know about that, what people don’t know about that, how dating is like being bisexual and also just other fun observations that I make with life. It’s going to be a great show.”