The 'Bachelorette' alum and her fiancé announced their split in June.
Michelle Young is managing to get through her split with Nayte Olukoya. The couple, who were the first couple of color to get engaged in Bachelor Nation history, broke up in June.
During a recent appearance on the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast, Young gave fans an update on how she’s been doing and shared that the end of their relationship was not in her plans.
“I will say this is not something that I foresaw, and I’ll leave it there,” the 29-year-old school teacher said on the podcast. Young shared that the entire summer, from deciding not to return to the classroom to ending her relationship has been a transition. Thankfully, she has support.
“It’s been quite a transition,” she told the host. “I would say just because you know this year, I decided to step away from the classroom, this following school year, just because I’ve been so burned out. And just really wanting to get out of that survival mode. I kinda feel like life has taken this thing and like okay challenge accepted. And here deal with a break up. It's definitely not something that I planned to have to work through this summer. But I definitely have the understanding that sometimes we have to work through things that we did not plan for that were not in our life plans."
"So I really am just leaning on my friends, family for support and it’s been really helpful I guess to just kinda maintain that layer that I can kinda now start working from.”
Young added, “You have your good days, you have your bad days. You know, it comes and goes in waves.”
When asked if her decision to step away from teaching would have helped the couple, who were long distance, get closer, Young shared, “naturally.” However, the Bachelor Happy Hour host shared that she is “focused on myself and inner peace.”
When it comes to her support system, Young says that she has been able to lean on family and friends inside and outside of Bachelor Nation for support.
“It’s been hard, it’s been very emotional and there’s been a lot of waves of things,” she said. “But to have family and friends who go on those waves with you and are willing to take on those waves with you, has been just incredible.”
As if letting go of the relationship hasn’t been hard enough, Young shared that deciding what to do with the $200,000 prize money awarded to her and Olukoya has been led her to cry to producers. “You know that was money that was gifted to both of us and I think that’s something that’s going to be decided how that's going to be unitized going forward,” she said.
"I haven't officially decided, but I have started putting down some different things in place to give back, to build an organization, or just promote the change that I've been talking about," the fifth grade teacher said. "I think that'd be something that I'd feel really good about."
She continued about the emotional phone calls with producers, “I’ve literally been crying on the phone with the producers, to be like ‘can I create this to give the money to somebody else?’ It’s something I feel good about. I know that’s been the million-dollar question, it’s been a lot.”
Young and Olukoya announced their split in June. Shortly after making the news public, Olukoya released a statement clearing up any rumors of infidelity.
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