Michelle Young has a thorn in her side to pick.
The Bachelorette alum, who got engaged to contestant Nayte Olukoya on the season 18 finale of the ABC dating show, addressed a video circulating online in which she was seen without her engagement ring. Taking to Instagram Stories on May 30, the 28-year-old said that she decided to speak out and set the record straight about the sighting after receiving "so many" messages from fans asking whether or not she and Nayte were still together.
"There is a video circulating of me on a rooftop this weekend and I'm not wearing my engagement ring," she began in video message. "And what I will have to say is to the person who is paying close enough attention to catch that moment, you also had to be paying close enough attention to see one of my friends briefly remove my engagement ring to try it on and then place it back on my finger."
She continued, "Just a friendly reminder that Nayte and I, we are human beings—not a zoo exhibit."
Michelle went on to say that it was "creepy" to be filmed without her consent, adding, "It's not cool."
For his part, Nayte also brushed off breakup speculations in a video of his own. On TikTok, the Canadian sales executive joked that "90% of my DMs" had been questions about Michelle since rumors of trouble in paradise started to spread.
"Where is Michelle? Where is she? Why aren't you with her?" he said in a video, seemingly mocking some of the comments he's received. "Like, physical location—where is she? Where is Michelle, Nayte?!"
Since their engagement, Michelle and Nayte have been leaning on each other as they maneuver through life in the spotlight. As Michelle explained to E! News in February about their relationship, "It's been really nice to be able to be out in the public because I feel we both understand what each other is going through, having this instant fame kind of scenario."
And her love agrees. Nayte added about the pressures of fame, "People are going to say whatever they want to say. We're living our lives. It really doesn't phase us."