I found myself re-watching some Ghost of Ohio-era Andy interviews last night and it's very telling how he doesn't mention AP by name, at all. He mentions Jake, Jinxx & CC by name, and then wraps it up with "everyone in the band", etc.
It seems very clear that by this point, and, hell, probably even all the way back to Vale (maybe even before that), that AP was no longer considered - at least by Andy - as part of the band.
Like- sure- we know Vale was intended to be BVB's swan song, their goodbye - Andy's said that he wanted to follow through with the Re-Stitch project and then that was it. That was going to be the end.
It's well documented how fractured BVB was during the Vale era, what with Andy openly admitting to travelling on a separate bus, and that he really only saw his bandmates while they were on stage performing.
Looking back, I'm really shocked that no one twigged or thought it was odd that - for a good, idk, six months? Or so - Andy just stopped referring to AP full stop whenever he talked about his Andy Black project or the, at that point, unknown future of Black Veil Brides.
The announcement of AP leaving shocked us a year ago, it upset a fair few of us too, but, honestly? The signs were there that AP was no longer part of the band. We just didn't see it.
All in all, I guess the point of this, is thank fuck for Lonny Eagleton for showing Andy why this band matters, and giving him a reason to fight for it, rather than kill it to save it.
