Nayte Olukoya is shutting down fan speculation that he and Brandon Jones have any beef post-Michelle Young's final rose, but in the end, Nayte won the Bachelorette's heart. Since her season wrapped, the couple has remained happily engaged despite fan wariness of what they think are Nayte's red flags.
Another typical After Michelle's season of The Bachelorette, fans have accused Brandon of copying the Canadian as he got similar tattoos and made plans to move to Nayte's current home, Austin, Texas.
After months of speculation, Nayte called out the fans claiming he and Brandon are at odds. "Who started the whole Brandon and Nate hate each other train. It's getting old. It's weird," the executive said via a now-deleted Instagram Story, captured by Monsters & Critics. The call-out stemmed from the "thousands" of DMs Nayte said he received filled with insults about Brandon and claims the runner-up was "stalking" him. "What did Brandon ever do to me? Like that's something I still don't get because this is new. The guy gets a tattoo and I get a hundred DMs [that] Brandon's trying to be like me. He moves to Austin and I get a thousand DMs."
Nayte continued to shut down speculation by inviting Brandon to get dinner and letting his followers know the two were already planning to see each other at the end of the month. The rumors of tension between the pair seemingly started after Brandon's postseason interview on the Viall Files podcast. Revisiting his crushing breakup with Michelle, Brandon revealed he struggled with his self-worth and he wanted to be like Nayte, the guy who won the girl. "I bought a dangling earring, I was going to buzzcut my hair. I was in a bad place. I didn't love myself," the 26-year-old revealed to host and former Bachelor Nick Viall.
But while fans are still stuck in the past, the two men have moved forward. Once contestants break out of the Bachelor bubble, they tend to realize their feelings for the lead were heightened due to the fairytale circumstances. Most Bachelor and Bachelorette alums don't consider the lead they once pursued their ex when in hindsight, they spoke to them for 5 minutes at a time in romanticized settings. This is how in the most unconventional and seemingly awkward situations, lifelong friendships can be created within a Bachelor cast. Brandon and Nayte may not be best friends, but it's more likely that Brandon is just leveling up his look after seeing himself on tv and moving to the influencer-friendly land of Austin than there's beef between him and Nayte.
Source: Monsters & Critics, Viall Files/YouTube