Michelle Young couldn’t resist a good pun when it came time to hard launch her new relationship with Jack Leius.
“Hit the Jackpot with you,” the former Bachelorette, 30, wrote via Instagram on Friday, October 27, sharing gorgeous photos of the pair all dressed up.
In the pics, Young stunned in a black floral dress with matching pumps, which complemented her chain-link earrings and high pony. Leius, for his part, opted for a black button-down and cream-colored trousers.
Young has not shared further details about the pair’s romance. According to Leius’ LinkedIn profile, he is based in Young’s native Minnesota and works as a sales consultant for a local insurance brokerage. (Leius previously studied business and marketing at the University of Minnesota before completing a master’s degree in sports management from Minnesota State University.)
Young first teased their relationship earlier this month, sharing an Instagram Story pic of the twosome kissing outside a Minnesota Vikings football game. While Leius smooched her cheek, his face was obscured by a Vikings baseball cap.
Young’s relationship with Leius marks her first foray back into the dating scene since she and ex-fiancé Nayte Olukoya called off their engagement last year.
Young — who was the third Black Bachelorette — found an instant connection with Olukoya, 29, during season 18 of The Bachelorette, which premiered in October 2021. Olukoya proposed during the December 2021 season finale, but after one year together, the couple confirmed their split.
“To those who have supported Nayte and I, including Bachelor Nation, I know I speak for the both of us when saying having a relationship in the public eye has not been easy,” Young captioned a social media statement in June 2022. “I’m struggling to say that Nayte and I will be going our separate ways but I stand with him in knowing the heaviness that is present in both our hearts as this relationship has been very real for us.”
She added at the time: “To you, Nayte, you quickly became my best friend and the love I have for you is incredibly strong. I will never stop wanting to see you succeed. I will always acknowledge and appreciate the adventures, support and growth both Nayte and this experience have brought me.”
Young has since claimed that Olukoya dumped her over the phone and that the experience “tainted” future engagements for her.
“It was my dream ring. I wanted the relationship to work. I was willing to put in work for the relationship. And I had the person take off,” she claimed during a February interview on the “Almost Famous” podcast. “That’s not something that I bluntly said [before] because Instagram and there’s all these other things on you, but, like, I know what it looks like to work through a relationship, and I know how hard relationships can get. But both people have to be capable of doing that.”
Olukoya, for his part, has not addressed any of Young’s accusations about the abrupt demise of their romance. In July 2022, he denied rumors that he cheated on Young and asserted that they both “tried” to make their relationship work to no avail.
