real life

'I moved across the country for my boyfriend. Then he handed me a letter.'

When Jillian's partner wanted to move interstate, the musician sacrificed her life in Los Angeles to join him.

After all, they had been together for almost four years, and had often talked of their future together. She loved him, and he loved her. It seemed like an obvious choice.

But it wasn't without heartbreak. Jillian left her career, her family and friends behind and dipped deep into her savings for the months-long moving process. She was still in the thick of it when her partner handed her a note that would turn her world upside down.

Watch: Breakup advice at the 2024 Logies. Post continues after video.


Video: Mamamia

Now, the musician has shared her story the best way she knows how — through song.

"Imagine. You live in LA with your boyfriend and everything's going amazing 'til he says, 'Babe, I wanna move back to Texas to be closer to my dad,'" she sang in a video posted to Instagram.

"So you give up half of your career, quit your improv group and have a goodbye party, take off months of work, deplete your savings to pay for movers and drive to Texas."

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But it was "worth it", Jillian thought, for the love of her life.

"So you spend a month waiting for your s**t to arrive, and then another month moving in and building furniture and stuff, and you're so happy," added Jillian, who goes by the stage name Spritely.

Little did the musician know her partner's next move would be a gut-wrenching one.

"He comes back from a family vacation, sits on our couch that just arrived in the mail, and hands you a note that says, 'We have nothing in common and are incompatible.'"

Jillian shared a photo of the handwritten note itself. While most of its contents was redacted, some passages were visible.

"I feel I may not have been honest with myself and you by extension about my view of a future together," read the opening line.

Another sentence said: "Pieces missing in our compatibility, which has given me hesitation about moving our lives forward."

The note ended with, "I will cherish our time together and I hope in time you can forgive me."

Along with her original song about the heart-wrenching experience, Jillian shared footage of the moving process and the aftermath of the breakup.

Jillian shared candid videos from the breakup, as well as a photo of the note. Image: Instagram/@spritely

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"Oh no. How did I not notice? This whole time," she sang, her words edged in sarcasm. "Three and a half years of happiness. We've been incompatible this whole time. Wow. What a surprise. Thank you for informing me."

And so, a heartbroken Jillian was forced to leave the life she was building in Texas — the one she had sacrificed everything for.

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"So you pack up your car with whatever you can fit in it," she said. "Just kidding, you're crying too hard so he he has to pack it for you, and then you drive to Florida to live with your mum."

Jillian's video quickly went viral, her candid story collecting more than 14,000 comments, with many sending words of support her way.

Watch Jillian's breakup story. Post continues below.


Video via Instagram/spritely.

"You dodged a bullet, you deserve so much more," one user wrote.

"I'm so mad for you. He needs to repay the savings you depleted on his behalf," a second said, to which another added: "Sue him! For financial and emotional damages."

Another warned Jillian: "Never abandon your career for a man. Never."

Others, meanwhile, pointed out the warning signs Jillian's ex-partner exhibited ahead of the split.

"A family trip without you sounds like a red flag in itself," one said.

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"Dad = New girlfriend," added another.

"Well hopefully he has something in common with his dad," a further joked.

Overall, the consensus was that it was a very lousy thing to do — obviously — and Jillian deserved way better.

"HE HANDED YOU A NOTE?? Your life is going to be so much better without this guy," a commenter wrote.

Indeed, Jillian's healing journey has been quite therapeutic. The singer has not only found new love (yay!), but also used her pain to fuel her art, releasing an EP called Life's Not A Novel about the turbulent period of her life.

"There is no drug like falling that truly madly deeply in love for the first time," she said on Instagram. "Whilst fresh out of a breakup, taking ur first solo road trip across the country, moving in with a bunch of messy boys, and re-re-re-starting over in California."

Adding that she had "given up hope", Jillian never expected to find a love that was even better than before.

"When this all unfolded better and more elaborately than any book I'd ever read… it was absurd," she said.

"I'm still obsessed with our story and hope I always will be, even as the honeymoon phase ends and my anxious attachment starts to rear it's ugly head."

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Feature Image: Instagram/@spritely