Even Mark Sanford's Ex-Fiancée Was Surprised by That Facebook Post
I think it’s safe to say that we were all sort of taken off guard by Mark Sanford’s cry-me-a-river Facebook post announcing his break-up with fiancée Maria Belen Chapur. Mostly because he’s an irrelevant politician whose claim to fame is his extramarital business. But apparently, we weren’t the only one’s surprised by the lengthy post—so was Maria Belen Chapur. Yep, Sanford’s ex-fiancée. Yep, the woman he left his wife for.
Apparently things fell apart while the two were discussing a wedding date. Sanford wanted to wait two more years for his youngest son to turn 18 and the custody battle with his ex-wife could come to a close. But she had been waiting long enough. Chapur spoke to the New York Times where she had just spent a week with Sanford and where they decided to call it quits, saying:
“We had a great time here, we were like in a honeymoon,” she said. “I thought that he might tell me, ‘O.K., let’s put a date, end of 2015.’ But that didn’t happen. That’s why I wrote to him, ‘I had a spectacular week, you know I love you, but I don’t want to continue in the category of mistress, and if we continue like this I continue in that category, and I can’t bear it anymore. It has been really painful to me.'”
She continued, “His response was, ’24 months. If not I’ll say goodbye and I will look for you in 24 months.'” She said she had asked him to make their break public, but that Mr. Sanford did not warn her before announcing it on Facebook on Friday, catching her off guard. “I learned it from the press today,” she said Saturday.
Chapur also mentioned that she did not believe that the source of their relationship troubles was Sanford’s ex-wife Jenny Sanford’s doing, even though that’s exactly who Sanford blames in his Facebook post.
Ms. Chapur said on Saturday that she did not buy Mr. Sanford’s explanation that his divorce was standing in the way of their marriage, and that he should not “leave blame on Jenny.” Ms. Chapur said she felt as if she had been cast aside now that Mr. Sanford was back in political office (he will face no major challenge this fall).
“I think that I was not useful to him anymore — he made the engagement thing four months before the elections,” Ms. Chapur said. “So this is not about his son, this is about his career and his ambitions.” Mr. Sanford, she said, “truly was the love of my life.” But, she added, “In 24 months, what was it going to be?”
That must have been a rough decision for Chapur, but ultimately probably a good one. It definitely seemed that when Sanford realized that voters might not easily accept his former mistress, he responded by keeping her out of view. Weak. Sorry, but soulmate-hood shouldn’t be a matter of PR convenience.
Here’s hoping for a series of Vines of Sanford’s reaction to Chapur’s reaction to Sanford’s Facebook post.
Image via AP.