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João Franco Confirms He Is No Longer Engaged to Michelle Dicu
The Below Deck Med alum also shared some news about his yachting career.
João Franco has ended his engagement with Michelle Dicu.
The Below Deck Mediterranean alum announced the news in a post on Instagram on June 9. "It feels so good to be back on track. As I am sure most of you have gathered, I am no longer engaged," João confirmed in the post, which featured a photo of him on the beach tagged in Tarragona, Spain. "I haven’t been for a long time and also haven’t felt the need to share it until I was ready."
João went on to share some kind words about his ex. "Firstly, I absolutely loved the bombshell of a lady I was with," he said. "She was nothing short of extraordinary and so crazy beautiful!!! She truly deserves the world."
He ended the post by giving some insight into why his engagement ultimately ended. "Through the hardships of COVID, career paths and distance we didn’t make it through. I truly wish we could have and will never regret nor forget the love we had for each other," João explained. "It is sad to be strangers after being so close but, it is what it is, isn’t it? Happy is she and happy am I. That’s all that matters."
João also included the hashtags "#onwards," "#movingforward," "#noregrets," "#yachtlife," and "#lifesabeach."
João received some love from his Below Deck family in the comments section of the post, including his best mate Colin Macy-O'Toole, who wrote, "Stay positive bud! #backontrack."
Below Deck Sailing Yacht's Paget Berry, whose engagement with longtime girlfriend Ciara Duggan also recently ended, shared some words of wisdom with João. "Stay strong mate, everything happens for a reason!" he commented. "Would be great to catch up at some point if our boats cross paths."
João and Michelle first met in August 2018 while he was in New York City for the Below Deck Med Season 3 reunion. He decided to get his teeth bleached, and Michelle was the dental hygienist who performed the procedure.
The two began messaging each other, and Michelle started traveling to Fort Lauderdale, Florida to see João, where he was based at the time. João started going public with his relationship in the fall of 2018.
João and Michelle continued a long distance relationship, which got even more challenging when he moved to South Africa, and the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic began. The Below Deck Med alum shared on Instagram last year that being a part from Michelle was "really tough." "She was two days short of visiting me and coming to South Africa to spend this time with me. She was working at the time," João said. "Yeah, we missed our window by two days, but positivity is strong within us. And we all know that people around us have it worse, and we [are] very lucky."
They were finally able to reunite to celebrate the New Year together in the Bahamas. The last photos João shared of himself and Michelle on Instagram are from that January 2021 trip.
Since then, João has been visiting family and working on advancing his career in yachting, including successfully passing his officer of the watch exam in April.
According to João's recent Instagram Story, he is currently working on a new yacht out of Tarragona that is 100 meters long, 4,437 gross tons, six stories high, and has a crew of 45 "awesome" people on board. "Biggest boat I've worked on so far and I am loving it!" João gushed in the caption to a video giving a peek at his new workplace.
