Zach Bryan’s impulsive split from Brianna Chickenfry was due to his ongoing mental health issues and grief over his mother’s death, leading him to spiral into self-sabotage, insiders claim.
The country star, 28, took Barstool Sports favorite Brianna, 25, by surprise when she announced on Instagram that she had quit in the wake of an “incredibly difficult year personally.”
Zach has been struggling to cope with the “emotional rollercoaster” he’s been on since his mother Annette died in 2016, according to inside sources who claim the singer is having trouble maintaining relationships as he’s still trying to “figure out” itself”.
“Zach’s life has been an emotional rollercoaster since his mother died,” an exclusive source told DailyMail.com. ‘Zach is dealing with mental health issues.
‘His mother was his support and he was able to learn from her and her struggles, and now he doesn’t have that outlet. Brianna was someone who stood up to Zach and confronted all of his problems.
Zach Bryan, pictured in February 2024, announced his split from girlfriend Brianna Chickenfry on Tuesday.
The singer is said to be battling several mental health issues and is struggling with the loss of his mother Annette, who died in 2016.
The source said he “can’t handle relationships very well because he’s still trying to understand himself,” adding that he “doesn’t want to be a burden.”
They continued, “Also, once things are going well, he seems to sabotage himself by walking away from something good and that seems to be what he’s doing with Brianna.”
Zach, who has come under fire for allegedly using the celebrity dating app Raya so soon after their split, really wants to be in a relationship, but he just can’t handle one on top of everything else.
“He can’t deal with that much anxiety in life,” the source continued. “He finds it quite difficult to navigate his life, his career and his mental health, so it’s difficult to throw a relationship into the mix, no matter how good it is, even though that’s exactly what he wants.
‘Zach definitely goes after people who will be there for him at all costs. Once he feels that it’s not there, he leaves them cold turkey.
‘Brianna turns out to be the last person to deal with this. When she says she was taken by surprise, she’s telling the truth.’
Zach was previously married to Rose Madden, ending a year after their wedding in July 2020. Both parties have since deleted almost all traces of the other on social media.
Shortly after their split, he began dating Debbie Peifer, but the couple broke up in May 2023, just two months before he confirmed he was dating Brianna.
Zach, pictured at the Grammys in February 2024, announced their split in a statement on Instagram, saying he’s had an “incredibly difficult year personally.”
“She finds it quite difficult to navigate her life, her career and her mental health, so it’s difficult to throw a relationship into the mix, no matter how good it is,” a source told DailyMail.com.
Brianna, whose real name is Brianna LaPaglia, said she was “shocked” when she opened up about their split in an emotional video message to fans minutes after Zach announced the news in a lengthy Instagram statement.
“Addressing something: Brianna and I have broken up and I respect and love her with every ounce of my heart,” he wrote.
“She has loved me unconditionally for a long time and for that I will always be grateful.
“Personally, I’ve had an incredibly difficult year and I’ve had to overcome some pretty serious things. I thought it would be beneficial for both of us to go our separate ways. I’m not perfect and I never will be.’
He continued: ‘Please respect Brianna’s privacy and space in this and, if you have it in your heart, mine too.
‘With everything I am and anyone I let down, I’m sorry. I do the best I can in everything. I failed the people who love me and mainly myself.’
Zach previously spoke out about his mother’s death, telling the New York Times that it “really solidified the darkness of my life.”
“People say I repress,” he said. “And I was like, no, the person I want to tell all this to is dead.”
He also admitted to using songwriting as a form of therapy in 2017, just a year after Annette’s death.
“I was in the Navy,” he recalled to Joe Rogan on his podcast last year. “I had a lot of things to do, I didn’t believe in therapy because that’s ‘crazy’ in the Navy… and I started just making music.”
Zach’s breakup announcement came a day after fans speculated that the duo had gone their separate ways after a Reddit user claimed to have seen him on Raya with photos from his supposed profile.
And once their split was confirmed, the post garnered many responses, with many expressing outrage that Zach had apparently dumped Brianna so quickly.
The Pink Skies hitmaker was also criticized by Dave Portnoy, who said he was dedicating Taylor Swift’s song The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived to Brianna in a direct attack on Zach on X.
The Barstool Sports boss hosts the BFFs podcast alongside Brianna and TikTok influencer Josh Richards.
He also faced a second wave of criticism from fans who criticized him for promoting a new song just hours after their split, accusing him of “treating women in a toxic way to get inspiration from the song.”
Zach was honorably discharged from the Navy in 2021 to pursue a music career after his song Heading South went viral in 2020. His debut album, American Heartbreak, was a chart-topper in 2022.