Lauren Alaina and Alex Hopkins End Their Engagement: 'This Has Not Been an Easy Decision'

Lauren Alaina and Alex Hopkins have called it quits.

The country star and her boyfriend, who got engaged over the summer, announced they were ending their six-year relationship on their respective Instagrams Monday.

In a joint statement, the couple explained that the difficult decision came as a result of their individual growth and change over the last six years.

“You have been so supportive of us through all of our ups and downs, including personal struggles with health and family, and we couldn’t be more grateful,” the couple began. “You share your lives with us, and we always want to be open with you in return.”

“We want to let you know that we have decided to call off our engagement,” they revealed, adding that, “While we still have love for each other, we’ve grown into very different people over the last six years.”

“We are now in a place where we are each looking forward to starting our own fresh, new chapters of our lives,” they wrote. “We both love and respect each other and hope you all will do the same. This has not been an easy decision, but we both feel it is the right decision. Thank you always for your love and support.”

Alaina, 24, also captioned the emotional announcement by asking her followers for “grace, compassion, and respect in this time.”

“I don’t regret a single second with Alex,” she said. “I wish him the very best. Please do the same.”

Meanwhile, on his Instagram, Hopkins, 23, explained that they fought to make things work.

“As badly as we wanted to make it work, and as hard as we fought to stay together, she and I just weren’t a part of each other’s perfect plan for our individual lives. And that’s ok,” he captioned the announcement.

“She and I get to focus solely on ourselves and our different futures for the first time since high school,” he added. “Sometimes what we want and what God has for us is 2 totally different things. Just trust that no matter the outcome, everything works out for the betterment of your life.”

Representatives for the couple did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

The sad news comes six months after the pair, who have been dating since they were teenagers, announced their engagement on Instagram.

“Being yours forever has a nice ‘RING’ to it,” the “Doin’ Fine” singer wrote alongside the image — in which she also showed off the new diamond sparkler on her ring finger.

“WE ARE ENGAGED. EEEK. 💍❤️,” she wrote, adding, “#HoppilyEverHopkins.”

Hopkins also shared the same photo and captioned it, “Ladies and gentleman, may I present to you for the first time, the future Mrs. Lauren Hopkins.”

In May, the American Idol runner-up revealed that while she wasn’t sure whether an engagement was in her immediate future, she and Hopkins had discussed taking the next step together.

“Everyone asked us if that was going to happen. I don’t know!” she told Taste of Country. “We have definitely talked about marriage, obviously. When you have been together for six years, it’s bound to come up at some point.”

But Alaina recently explained during Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin Eve with Ryan Seacrest‘s West Coast telecast that the couple hadn’t decided on a date for their wedding yet because of their busy schedules.

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“We haven’t picked a date yet only because we tour so much, and everyone gets married on the weekends and I work on the weekends, so we’re trying to work all that out,” Alaina said. “We’ll probably have a long engagement because I want to make sure we do everything right and have time to plan it.”

Alaina has an exceptionally busy year ahead, as she gets ready to hit the road with country superstar Blake Shelton on his upcoming Friends and Heroes Tour.