Taylor Swift wasn’t in attendance at the Kansas City Chiefs and Minnesota Vikings NFL game — but Michelle Young sure was, packing on the PDA with a new man, nonetheless.
Young, 30, smiled in an Instagram Stories selfie posted on Sunday, October 9, while a mystery man in a purple Vikings hat gave her a kiss on the cheek.
The Bachelorette alum’s apparent new relationship hard launch comes more than one year following her June 2022 split from Nayte Olukoya.
Olukoya, 29, proposed to Young during The Bachelorette season 18 finale, which aired in December 2021. The former couple got “significantly closer” after the show came to an end, Young shared during the After the Final Rose special at the time, but they split several months later.
“To those who have supported Nayte and I, including Bachelor Nation, I know I speak for the both of us when saying having a relationship in the public eye has not been easy,” Young announced in a June 2022 Instagram Stories post. “I’m struggling to say that Nayte and I will be going out separate ways but I stand with him in knowing the heaviness that is present in both our hearts as this relationship has been very real for us.”
The former ABC star referred to Olukoya as her “best friend,” noting that she still has “love” for her ex.
“I will never stop wanting to see you succeed,” Young continued. “I will always acknowledge and appreciate the adventures, support and growth both Nayte and this experience have brought me. At the same time, I’m deeply hurting and will need time and space to work through this heartbreak.”
Olukoya, for his part, shared a similar statement, noting that “hearts are heavy” and “emotions are high” as they deal with the breakup.
In the months that followed, both Young and Olukoya shared insight into what went wrong between them.
While Young hinted that the split was “not something that I foresaw” during an appearance on the “Almost Famous” podcast in June 2022, Olukoya had more to say.
“I miss the Michelle that I fell in love with. I’m not sure I miss the Michelle I broke up with,” he revealed on “the “Viall Files” podcast in September 2022. “Our relationship was tough. There’s lots of ups and downs, lots of arguments, lots of fights, and just not really clicking, not really seeing eye to eye.”
While Young said that it was “interesting” hearing his side of the split while chatting with Celeb Secrets that same month, she was officially “healed” by December 2022.
“I really did the work early on, and it’s a lot when so much is going on outside of you,” Young told Life & Style at the time. “You have to heal otherwise, you are going to constantly — like, your emotions depend on what is happening.”
