Apple watch 5, Activity Sharing Invite not working

Apple says this is under investigation, but anything you can think of that helped you? Please see specifics below:

I bought my AW5 on 06/21/21, paired it with IP 12 Pro Max. Sharing shows invite sent. Recipient receives a notification and can see my activity. However, my device continues to show - invite sent, the status does not change. Also, my watch/phone do not receive invites. I have done the following:

1. Updated OS on both Iphone and watch for both myself and the recipient
2. We are not on the same network, recepient lives in a different space
3. Restarted both iphone and watch for both myself and the recipient several times
4. Facory reset my phone and set it up from backup
5. Paired and Un-paired the watch thrice (before and after factory reset)
6. Set it up as a new watch and also tried setting up watch from back up (i.e. my old watch)
7. Signed in and out of icloud

Thank you!