Woodbury's 'Bachelorette' Michelle Young Gets Engaged

WOODBURY, MN —Michelle Young, who grew up in Woodbury, concluded her run as the bachelorette on the ABC-TV reality series "The Bachelorette" Tuesday by announcing her engagement to Nayte Olukoya.

According to People magazine, the episode was taped two months ago on a beach in Mexico. Woodbury handed out her final rose to Olukoya —choosing him over Brandon Jones —then Olukoya got down on one knee and popped the question.

Young told People that the couple are very much in love.

"He and I always had an undeniable connection," Young said. "I fall more in love every day. 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."

Young, 28, is a fifth-grade teacher at Echo Park Elementary in Burnsville, according to the Star Tribune. Young only agreed to do the show if they filmed during her summer break.

Olukoya, 27, is a Winnipeg-raised, Texas-based sales executive.

According to the Star Tribune, it is the first time in the show's 19-year history that a Black lead chose another Black contestant.

US magazine reported that, Olukoye proposed with a diamond and platinum ring centering a pear shape diamond set with two tapered baguette diamonds and further set with 46 round brilliant cut diamonds for a total weight of over 3.00 carats."

During his proposal, Olukoye told Young that he felt their chemistry right when they met.

"Michelle, the very first night I met you, I knew right then and there that we had a connection that I wanted to hold onto," Olukoye said. "The second night that we were together, we talked about running away together. I'm standing in front of you right now and the feelings are the same — I want to run away with you.

"I want to run away to forever with the woman that I've come to love. This amazingly, crazy, loud kind of love. Through this journey, you've shared a lot of vulnerable sides of your past. I know that you've felt unseen at times and I want to let you know that I am completely prepared, willing and ready to make sure that you are always chosen first, seen, now, today, tomorrow and for the rest of our lives. I love you, Michelle."

Since the engagement, Young told People the couple has filled their days with "dancing, singing and goofing around." But they've also had serious talks about their future.

"You can have all these passionate moments, but when you get into the real world, are you a person who's going to stick in and hold on and work through things?" Young said. "That's when I truly understood the depth of Nayte. He said "love changes," but it doesn't mean you love each other any less."