It’s officially Michelle Young’s turn to hand out the roses as production on season 18 of The Bachelorette is underway. Bachelor Nation met Michelle, a 28-year-old teacher from Edina, Minnesota, on Matt James’ season ofThe Bachelor.
While she was one of the five ladies who arrived late to Nemacolin Resort in Pennsylvania during season 25, Michelle quickly caught Matt’s attention and secured a one-on-one date. In the end, the former basketball player finished as Matt’s runner-up, and he sent her home before the final rose ceremony.
“I had to walk away without closure, and I had to fill in the gaps of what our relationship really was, and I wasn’t OK. I wasn’t OK at all,” Michelle told Matt, 29, on After the Final Rose in March. “And producers were in my room … seeing how bad I was hurting and I asked you for a conversation, and it was not a conversation where I was trying to change your trajectory or trying to change your mind or fight for you.
It was a conversation so that I could have my inner peace when I left Pennsylvania, and you said no.”Matt, who pickedRachael Kirkconnell, subsequently apologized for how things ended.
“If I would have known that this is how you were feeling in that moment, then I would have fought to have that conversation,” the Wake Forest alum said. “Just in terms of there being any doubt in how I felt about you, what I can tell you is that when you showed up when you did, it was a breath of fresh air, and I always tell people who ask that you weren’t late. You were right on time.”