Nayte Olukoya claimed he saw the former Bachelorette delete a text thread with 'a very famous country singer.'
Nayte Olukoya is opening up about trust issues in his relationship with Michelle Young. On the latest episode of The Viall Files podcast, the Bachelorette alum recalled how trust played a role in his June breakup with the former teacher.
"I think there was some insecurity in the relationship. I think that played a really big role in the relationship," Nayte said. "... I know there was a moment where I started questioning things because it was a confusing moment and that just kind of led to some trust issues on my part too."
When host Nick Viall pressed Nayte for more information about the "confusing moment" he referenced, Nayte claimed that, when he was lying in bed with Michelle one day, he happened to see her DMing a "very famous country music singer."
Though he said he didn't initially think anything of it, the next time Nayte looked over, he claimed that Michelle had deleted the whole thread, which made him wonder what was going on. ET has reached out to Michelle's rep for comment.
"The story that she told me made no sense. It was such an odd story," Nayte said. "... [She said,] 'I deleted it because what he said made me feel uncomfortable... He wanted to go get drinks with me.' And I was like, 'OK, what led to that?'"
"They had already met because her and her friends went to this concert because he invited her. She went to this guy's concert in Minnesota because he was on a tour. She was backstage," he added. "I was like, 'OK, what led to him asking you to go get drinks?' [She said,] 'Oh, we were going to play basketball, my friends and his friends.'"
When Nayte asked Michelle what exactly the person in question said that made her "so uncomfortable," she said that the suggestion of drinks did that. To that, Nayte questioned, "How did you know he meant just you two?"
From there, Nayte claimed, "The conversation kept going back and forth." Eventually, Nayte said he asked Michelle to call a friend she had been with at the concert to verify her story.
"She did that... and her friend was like, 'Michelle, I don't know what you're talking about,'" Nayte alleged. "I dropped it. I didn't know what to do. She apologized for making me feel like I can't trust her, [said] I had nothing to worry about, and we never really talked about it again."
Though the conversation didn't come up again, Nayte said he considered it to be "a red flag."
"She apologized. She made sure I knew it was nothing to be concerned about, but the fact that the whole message thread got deleted, I was like, 'This is something to be concerned about,'" he said. "... Michelle's a very trustworthy person and I do trust her, but that one moment, it did kind of play a role. It just wasn't a fun thing to feel."
As for their breakup, which happened when Nayte ended things over the phone after months of "rockiness," he admitted things "got messy" in the aftermath.
"The post-breakup got messy. Communication between Michelle and I ended mid-July," he said. "... Breakups suck... It was hard, but it was the right thing to do... I think we're two different people from two completely different worlds."
The pair announced their breakup in June, less than a year after their engagement played out on the December 2021 season finale of The Bachelorette.
At the time, Michelle, addressing Nayte, wrote, "You quickly became my best friend and the love I have for you is incredibly strong," before adding that she's "deeply hurting and will need time and space to work through this heartache."
"Hearts are heavy, emotions are high and we are dealing with the best way we can," Nayte wrote in his post. "... We genuinely fell in love, and we genuinely became each other's best friends. Michelle and I will always cheer each other on, but moving forward, we will be cheering from a distance."
Shortly thereafter, in a post to his Instagram Story, Nayte denied that he cheated in the relationship. He also wrote that he's "a decent guy" and added that the "negativity and blatant hate" surrounding him amid the split has been "hurtful."
"The pressures were insane for both of us," Nayte added of himself and his ex. "We tried. It didn't work. We're sad about it. We all grieve differently."
The next month, Michelle opened up about her and Nayte's split during an appearance on The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast.
"This is not something that I foresaw, and I’ll leave it there... It's definitely not something that I planned to have to work through this summer," she said at the time. "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."
As for how she was doing in the wake of the split, Michelle admitted "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."
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