Leah Costa reveals why she was dumped by former reality star boyfriend

Bachelor in Paradise star Leah Costa has tearfully detailed her split from Big Brother alum Anthony 'Drew' Drew.

Following her announcement on social media on Thursday, the 25-year-old has shared a series of Instagram Stories explaining why she was so heartbroken by the breakup.

"Anyone wondering why I put up that picture of Drew and I and why we broke up, basically we were super happy until I got that media backlash, but ever wonder who took the photo of me in the backseat with the [ring]?" she said, referring to when she faked an engagement after returning from Paradise.

"Basically he only dated me because I had a media image and he wanted to get his face back out there, and when it turned negative, he didn't want to be involved with it anymore. And to call it casual is probably the nastiest thing anybody had ever said."

The "casual" comment was in relation to a statement Drew gave the Daily Mail on Thursday night, in which he downplayed their relationship.

"We were casually seeing each other and I made it unequivocally clear that I wanted to stay out of the media," he said. "That must've translated to 'pretend I'm engaged and give the public a life lesson about the media' because then the engagement ring/appearance on The Project fiasco happened."

"I told her I didn't think we should continue seeing each [other]," he continued. "This was followed by her showing up unannounced to my house and workplace on occasions. Unfortunately what was a fun casual thing was ruined by her wanting to keep the headlines rolling."

Leah also shared screenshots of text messages between her and Drew, in which they said they loved each other.

The split comes just three weeks after Leah admitted she'd worn an engagement ring, but was not actually engaged, to drum up media interest to prove a point about "fake news and the power of suggestion."