Conor Maynard came off social media after online romance ended
Conor Maynard admitted it was a "shock to the system" when his online romance abruptly ended.
The 'Can't Say No' hitmaker "built an emotional connection" on social media with a mystery girlfriend for almost a year and thought things were going well before his long-distance lover suddenly pulled the plug.
He said: "We had built such an emotional connection.
"It went from something I thought was going to last for a very long time to something that was completely over. It was just such a shock to the system."
Despite being a prolific YouTuber, Conor immediately decided to log off in order to go through the "difficult period" in his life out of the spotlight and process his feelings through his music.
He told People magazine: "I just wanted the time to take a step back from social media and get in the studio and not feel the pressure to make content. I wanted to put everything I was feeling into my music...
"It was something I knew I needed to do.
"I keep up this positive persona online, so when I'm going through a difficult period, it makes it feel so much worse to feel the pressure to keep up that appearance of being happy and pretending that everything is OK when you know deep down it's not."
The 30-year-old singer admitted he found it "difficult" in the aftermath of the break-up because he felt so "alone".
He said: "[Music is] the positive that comes out of a really extreme negative.
"But it was difficult. I didn't have the person that I would wake up in the morning and talk to, or the person that I would speak to on FaceTime before I went to sleep. It was such a massive shift for me, and I felt massively alone."
And Conor was also missing interaction with his loyal followers.
He said: "I was basically cutting off all these people that cared about me fully.
"I guess, I had to find what I enjoyed again and why I started in the first place."
The 'If I Ever' singer is now back on social media and is still confused about whether there's a future for him and his former partner, who lives in Australia.
He said: "The last text she sent me basically said, 'I still hope I get to see your show next year.'
"I just couldn't believe it. I just don't understand. I don't get what's going on. I don't understand why this is happening. But maybe someday, I will."