The Bachelorette alum Michelle Young has revealed her wants and dealbreakers for dating in 2023 after recently joking that she "may be single 4 life."
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Michelle captioned the post, "Love me some high standards," and told her followers in the video, "My first 'in' for 2023 is a man who is capable of taking initiative."
Michelle elaborated, "It comes super natural for me to plan a date from start to finish. I don't mind doing it. Honestly, I kind of enjoy it. But it would also be really nice to have somebody who is willing to put the energy into doing that -- and I can just come along for the ride."
Michelle's second "in" was "someone who can go with the flow."
Michelle explained how if she and her man are at the airport and their flight gets canceled, she doesn't want him to be "grumpy for the remainder of the day."
"You have people who embrace it, like, 'Let's get a drink or do a little shopping.' You're there regardless so you might as well have fun."
And Michelle also said she wants a partner with "goals," adding, "You've got to have them. I don't need to say anymore."
One day earlier, Michelle listed her "outs" in a "Part 1" video. The former Minnesota-based teacher confirmed she "recently got back into the dating scene" after her June 2022 split from Nayte Olukoya.
Michelle's "outs" are men who give guilt trips and cannot communicate effectively, complacency in life and relationships, being involved in a pyramid scheme, being emotionally unavailable, and the inability to read a room.
"Basically, we're just not messing around in 2023," Michelle proudly insisted.
But Michelle apparently recognizes finding Mr. Right may be a difficult task. After all, she uploaded a TikTok video last month titled, "Why I may be single 4 life."
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In the video, Michelle explained, "Okay, guy, I'm coming to the realization that I may be single for the rest of my life because if my relationship is not the same quality as my parents' relationship, I legitimately don't want it."
Michelle's parents, LaVonne and Ephraim Young, have been married for 34 years, and Michelle gushed about how they have "the most beautiful relationship" she's ever seen.
"They never stop doing the small things for each other," Michelle said.
The Season 18 The Bachelorette star provided an example of when her father attempted to secretly set up Christmas decorations outside their house to surprise and please his wife once she got home from a girls' night.
"He set off the doorbell sensor 70-plus times within an hour-and-a-half or two hours. And so my mom and I were just sitting there watching him set up the decorations," Michelle said with a laugh.
"He's literally bundled up because we are in Minnesota and it's freezing cold here. He has his boots, his jacket, his gloves, his snow pants, his coat -- everything. And I caught some of the video footage of it... Uhh, my heart can't take it!"
The Bachelorette 19 star Rachel Recchia -- who also split from her fiance Tino Franco last year after he cheated on her -- agreed with Michelle and commented on her TikTok post, "If it's not love like this I don't want it!!!!!"
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Michelle and Nayte got engaged on The Bachelorette's Season 18 finale, which aired in December 2021, but their relationship lasted only six months after the finale aired.
Michelle gave an update on how she was "healing" from her breakup with Nayte when she attended the 2022 iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas in September 2022.
"It's been really interesting. Just, you know, you go through something and you think you know someone, and then more recently, [you don't]," Michelle told Celeb Secrets TV on the red carpet.
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During a September appearance on "The Viall Files" podcast, Nayte recalled how he and Michelle began fighting shortly after their engagement aired on The Bachelorette in December 2021.
"I miss the Michelle I fell in love with, but I'm not sure I miss the Michelle I broke up with," Nayte told Nick Viall at the time.
Nayte said he had felt pressure to be perfect since Michelle was a famous face and that there were trust issues on his part. He even cited an incident when Michelle allegedly deleted a DM conversation with a famous male country singer to explain why he struggled to trust her.
Nayte also shared how he wants "more of a partner and less of a coach" in his next relationship.
When recalling what exactly went wrong after their whirlwind romance on The Bachelorette, Nayte said there was a sudden and unexpected shift in his relationship with Michelle once they entered the real world, from being blissfully happy to living with tension.
"I fell in love with this woman and then, like, I'm not saying that she changed into this terrible person, but it just wasn't the same super quick," Nayte told Nick, when explaining why he had dumped Michelle.
He elaborated, "We started consistently and gradually going downhill, where we were just, like, it wasn't sunshine and rainbows anymore."
"I remember crying my heart out to [my mom and stepdad, saying], 'I'm so frustrated and I have no idea what's going on in this relationship.' How can you be so sure about something and then just have it fall apart?"
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Michelle admitted to Celeb Secrets TV the aftermath of her breakup was truly "a lot" to handle.
"I come from a family that's very private, we're not used to being in the public eye and especially not going through a public breakup," she noted.
Michelle, who moved to Los Angeles last year, continued, "All I can do, truly, is [remember] I know how things went down. I know the other person knows what went down, and I can stay true to myself and really that's all that I can do."
Nayte and Michelle publicly announced their breakup on June 17 via separate statements on their Instagram accounts.
According to Nayte, he and Michelle totally ended communication with each other in mid-July.
Nayte previously claimed he never cheated on Michelle, but Michelle was admittedly blindsided by his choice to call it quits on their relationship.
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Nayte also raised eyebrows when he moved from Texas to Los Angeles a few weeks after his breakup with Michelle to pursue modeling, Us Weekly reported.
The sales executive was also accused of moving on from Michelle quickly with The Bachelor alum Deandra Kanu after they were photographed flirting at a party, but Nayte insisted nothing romantic ever happened between them.
Michelle said in September it was "hard" dealing with "the public's opinion" of her personal life and the reports that were circulating online about Nayte.
"Everyone thinks that they know what happened, and all of this other stuff," Michelle said.
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Michelle said in her interview that she was "happy to say" she was "done" healing from the split after leaning on friends and family.
"[I plan] to find closure and continue to move on," Michelle noted. "I'm really, truly [trying to] block out all the noise. [I know] everything comes in waves. It's easier said than done though, right?!"
Michelle assured her fans in early August that she was "happier," suggesting she was in a better mental state after Nayte left her.
On The Bachelorette 18 finale, the show had gifted Michelle and Nayte a $200,000 check to put towards their first house together.
Nayte had initially planned to move to Minnesota to be with Michelle in March 2022, but he said he decided to stay in Austin, TX, due to back-to-back arguments the former couple had in the first few days of January last year.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
