Former Bachelorette star Michelle Young announced her broken engagement from Nayte Olukoya on June 17
Nayte Olukoya is sharing his side of the story.
The Bachelorette alum said he didn’t cheat on ex-fiancée Michelle Young before they decided to part ways. In a since-expired Instagram Q&A, the 27-year-old said there’s not always a giant reason for two people to split.
“No, I didn’t cheat,” he wrote on one slide.
“Not every breakup needs to have someone to blame,” he followed. “Yes, the pressures were insane for both of us. We tried. It didn’t work. We’re sad about it. We all grieve differently.”
Olukoya also questioned why some fans have portrayed him as a villain. “Yes, many of you seem to paint me as a red flag/ f— boy. Maybe it’s the piercings and tattoos? Who knows,” Olukoya continued. “But I’m actually a decent guy, and I only want to continue getting better. As we should all want for ourselves.”
Of speculation that Olukoya was cheating on Young when he was spotted out with his friends, he said his nights out were innocent. “Yes, I like to hang out with my guys. As she likes to hang out with her girls,” he added. “Nothing wrong with that. If anything, super healthy. We are social people. Not everyone who goes to bars are cheaters.”
Olukoya and Young, 29, were engaged on Young’s season of The Bachelorette, which aired in 2021. They became the Bachelor franchise’s first official couple of color to walk away engaged from either The Bachelorette or The Bachelor.
Upon their engagement, Young told PEOPLE she was certain that Olukoya was “her person.”
“I fall more in love every day,” Young shared. “I was fortunate enough to grow up in a family with a healthy marriage and I thought, I’m not going to give up until I have that. He’s my person. And I didn’t know I could love at this level.”
On June 17, the couple announced they’d ended their engagement.
“I’m struggling to say that Nayte and I will be going our separate ways, but I stand with him in knowing the heaviness that is present in both of our hearts as this relationship has been very real for us,” wrote Young on her Instagram Story, noting that having her relationship in the public eye “has not been easy.”
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