The Bachelorette's Michelle Young and Nayte Olukoya Receive $200,000 Down Payment for New House

After Michelle Young and Nayte Olukoya got engaged on the season finale of The Bachelorette, the couple received a surprise: a $200,000 check for a down payment on their first home together.

By Elyse Dupre Dec 22, 2021 1:59 PMTags

Michelle Young and Nayte Olukoya's next chapter together is off to a rosy start.

After getting engaged during the season 18 finale of The Bachelorette, the couple appeared on After the Final Rose and received a surprise gift: a down payment on a house.

The present came after Michelle and Nayte were talking about their future together and their plans for him to move to her home state of Minnesota in the next few months.

"Very soon," Nayte, who's from Winnipeg and was living in Austin, Texas, said during the Dec. 21 episode. "We're not waiting. There's no reason to wait with Michelle. Let's do this!"

When Kaitlyn Bristowe, who hosted AFR solo after Tayshia Adams was exposed to COVID-19 and missed the show out of an abundance of caution, asked if Michelle and Nayte were already house hunting, he replied, "Oh yes! The Zillow notifications are crazy."

That's when a gingerbread house with a big red bow on it was brought out. Upon lifting the roof, Michelle and Nayte found a check inside. 

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We Did a Social Media Deep-Dive on Michelle Young's Bachelorette Contestants. You're Welcome.

"That right there is from us in the Bachelor family," Kaitlyn said, "and that is a—I'm going to cry—that's a down payment on your first home together." 

Michelle then revealed the check had been made out for $200,000.

Before accepting a proposal from Nayte, Michelle said goodbye to Brandon Jones. While Brandon was left heartbroken, he noted that he wished Michelle and Nayte nothing but the best.

"I will always, always, always love Michelle," he said on AFR. "Unfortunately, I don't think that it would be respectful to love her in that manner anymore. You know, I want her and Nayte to truly be happy. But yeah, I mean, I meant what I said: I will always love her, I will always care for her and I'll always put her first."

ABC/Christopher Willard

During the episode, Michelle called the decision the "hardest" one she's made in her life. However, she knew Nayte was the one.

"Nayte, from the moment you stepped out of the limo, I felt that there was a connection," she said before the proposal. "It was this kinetic moment where I was feeling things that I didn't even really know it was possible to feel."

"But walking into this, my fear was that I would not be loved as much as I love the other person. And through our conversations, there were moments where that fear definitely started to creep in," Michelle noted. "And this has not necessarily been a smooth ride. But, I'm also not willing to face that fear of walking away from this without you because I have never felt a love like this before. And I love you with my entire heart and don't ever want to think about waking up next to anyone besides you and doing life with anyone besides you. And, at the end, I wanted to be standing in front of my soulmate, and he is definitely standing right in front of me."