Caelynn Marie Bell (née Miller-Keyes;[1] born June 15, 1995)[2] is an American TV host, model and beauty pageant titleholder. Miller-Keyes received national recognition after appearing as a contestant on season 23 of The Bachelor.
Caelynn Miller-Keyes | |
|---|---|
| Born | Caelynn Marie Miller-Keyes June 15, 1995 Fredericksburg, Virginia, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Virginia Commonwealth University |
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)[2] |
| Spouse |
Dean Unglert (m. 2023) |
| Beauty pageant titleholder | |
| Title | Miss Virginia Teen USA 2013 Miss North Carolina USA 2018 |
| Hair color | Brown |
| Eye color | Hazel |
| Major competition(s) | Miss Teen USA 2013 (Unplaced) Miss USA 2018 (1st Runner-Up) |
While competing in The Bachelor, Miller-Keyes received widespread attention and praise regarding her decision to detail the circumstances of a sexual assault she was the victim of while a college student. Her story was reported on by media outlets such as Forbes, Vogue, Inquisitr, Bustle, and Refinery29.
Early life and education
Miller-Keyes was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia to parents Jerry Keyes and Jai-leah Miller; she was raised by her mother and stepfather John Kamenicky.[3][4] Her mother and maternal grandmother are Native Americans, both enrolled with the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians.[3] Her paternal grandmother was the first woman to become head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Los Angeles.[5][6] As a child, she was diagnosed with encephalitis and was told by doctors she only had a 10% chance of ever walking again; she ultimately ended up fully recovering.[6] Miller-Keyes attended Stafford Senior High School and Virginia Commonwealth University, where she majored in broadcast journalism.[7][8][9] Prior to winning Miss North Carolina USA, Miller-Keyes moved from Virginia to Asheville, North Carolina and began working as a social media consultant.[9]
Career
Pageantry
Miller-Keyes's pageantry career began at the age of 16, after competing in Miss Virginia Teen USA 2013. She then went on to win the state title on her first attempt, and represented Virginia at Miss Teen USA 2013 at Atlantis Paradise Island in Nassau, Bahamas.[7] Miller-Keyes ultimately did not place in the pageant and the pageant was won by Cassidy Wolf of California. Miller-Keyes later crowned Olivia Fletcher as her successor at the end of her reign.[10]
Miller-Keyes returned to pageantry several years after winning Miss Virginia Teen USA, and competed in Miss Virginia USA in 2016 and 2017, placing as the third runner-up and first runner-up, to Desiree Williams and Jacqueline Carroll, respectively.[11] After moving to North Carolina, Miller-Keyes competed in Miss North Carolina USA 2018, representing Asheville, where she ended up winning the title and being crowned by outgoing titleholder Katie Coble.[12] As Miss North Carolina USA, Miller-Keyes was given the right to represent North Carolina at the Miss USA 2018 competition, held in Shreveport, Louisiana.[13] While at Miss USA, Miller-Keyes advocated for her platform of sexual assault awareness.[9] She went on to place as the first runner-up in the competition, behind eventual winner Sarah Rose Summers of Nebraska.[14][15][16][17] After finishing her reign, Miller-Keyes was unable to crown her successor due to filming commitments for The Bachelor. Her successor, Cheslie Kryst, was instead crowned by Miss North Carolina Teen USA 2018 Kaaviya Sambasivam.[18]
Reality television
In 2018, Miller-Keyes was cast in season 23 of The Bachelor, starring former professional football player Colton Underwood. Filming for the season took place throughout fall 2018, and Miller-Keyes was later revealed by the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) as a contestant on December 6, 2018.[19][20] Hannah Brown, another contestant, was crowned Miss Alabama USA 2018 and was Miller-Keyes's roommate at Miss USA.[21]
In the January 28, 2019, episode of the season, Miller-Keyes revealed to Underwood the details of a sexual assault that she was a victim of during her sophomore year of college, and how the experience led to her having difficulty opening up and trusting men for a period of time. Miller-Keyes received widespread attention and praise from the media after the episode aired, with outlets identifying the airing of their conversation as support for the Me Too movement.[22][23][24][25] Miller-Keyes placed fourth in the season, being eliminated by Underwood during the hometown dates portion of the show in the episode aired on February 25, 2019.[26] She began appearing on season six of Bachelor in Paradise in August 2019, before choosing to leave the show along with boyfriend Dean Unglert in the episode aired September 9, 2019.[27][28]
Personal life
As Miss North Carolina USA, Miller-Keyes revealed that she was a survivor of sexual assault and adopted sexual assault awareness as her primary platform of advocacy during the Miss USA competition. During season 23 of The Bachelor, Miller-Keyes went into detail regarding her assault, revealing that it occurred during her sophomore year of college when she and some friends were drugged and raped by a group of boys they were friends with. Miller-Keyes also had indecent pictures of her taken while she was incapacitated. After learning of her assault, Miller-Keyes reached out to hospitals for a rape kit, and was turned away by the first hospital, while the second hospital's investigation came back inconclusive due to the time that had passed since the assault. Of her assaulters, one was expelled from school while the others were left unpunished.[29][30][31]
Miller-Keyes began a relationship with Dean Unglert during season six of Bachelor in Paradise. In January 2021, they purchased a house together in Summerlin, Nevada, where they permanently relocated that April.[32] They got engaged in October 2022, and married on September 23, 2023, at a private mountain retreat in Meredith, Colorado.[33] Upon marriage, they both changed their surnames to Bell in honor of his late mother.[1]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Miss USA 2018 | Herself | Miss North Carolina USA; first runner-up |
| 2019 | The Bachelor | Herself | Contestant; season 23; fourth place |
| Bachelor in Paradise | Herself | Contestant; season 6 |
References
- ^ a b c Dupre, Elyse (September 24, 2023). "Bachelor Nation's Dean Unglert Marries Caelynn Miller-Keyes". E! News. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
- ^ a b "Caelynn Miller Keyes North Carolina". Miss Universe. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
- ^ Lo, Christine (January 24, 2019). "Caelynn Miller-Keyes Ethnicity and family situation".
- ^ Igoe, Katherine J. (January 11, 2019). "Get to Know 'Bachelor' Contestant Caelynn Miller-Keyes". Marie Claire.
- ^ a b "Caelynn Miller-Keyes Bio". 3 October 2018. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
- ^ a b "Caelynn Miller-Keyes". Miss Virginia USA. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
- ^ Gangraw, Sarah (January 22, 2019). "New Details About 'The Bachelor' Contestant Caelynn Miller-Keyes — Including Her History With Fellow Contestant Hannah Brown". Your Tango.
- ^ a b c "Caelynn Miller-Keyes". Miss Universe Organization. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
- ^ "Olivia Fletcher Bio". Miss Virginia USA. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
- ^ "Miss Virginia USA & Teen USA History". Retrieved February 5, 2019.
- ^ "Miss Asheville USA crowned Miss N.C. USA 2018". North State Journal. 4 October 2017.
- ^ KTBS Staff. "It's official: Miss USA 2018 pageant coming to Shreveport". KTBS. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
- ^ Connor Coulston, John (21 May 2018). "Miss USA Crowns Miss Nebraska Sarah Rose Summers as 2018 Winner". Pop Culture.
- ^ Charles, Marissa; Rogers, Chris (21 May 2018). "Miss Nebraska Wins Miss USA 2018: Sarah Rose Summers Takes Home The Crown". Hollywood Life. Archived from the original on 17 June 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
- ^ Vulpo, Mike (21 May 2018). "Miss Nebraska Sarah Rose Summers Crowned Miss USA 2018". E!.
- ^ Swift, Andy (21 May 2018). "Miss USA 2018: And the Winner Is..." TV Line.
- ^ Drabble, Jenny; Felder, Lynn (October 25, 2018). "Miss America returning to her hometown of Winston-Salem for downtown parade, appearance". Winston-Salem Journal.
- ^ Cain, Brooke (October 18, 2018). "The new 'Bachelor' season will feature Miss NC USA and a woman from Raleigh". The News & Observer. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
- ^ Krolak, Mike (December 6, 2018). "The Bachelor 2019 Cast: Meet Colton's Bachelorettes". ABC. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
- ^ Flanagan, Ben (December 6, 2016). "Meet the Alabama women competing for Colton Underwood's heart on 'The Bachelor'". Alabama.com. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
- ^ Cerón, Ella (January 29, 2019). "The Bachelor Got Talking About Sexual Assault Right for Once". The Cut.
- ^ Nahas, Aili (January 28, 2019). "The Bachelor's Caelynn Reveals She Was Raped in College: 'It Was the Darkest Time in My Life'". People.
- ^ Ruiz, Michelle (January 29, 2019). "Let's Talk About The Bachelor's #MeToo Moment". Vogue.
- ^ Pomarico, Nicole (February 4, 2019). "Win Or Lose, Caelynn Is Going To Impact This Season Of The Bachelor". Refinery29.
- ^ Denninger, Lindsay (February 25, 2019). "Why Did Caelynn Go Home On The Bachelor? Colton Had To Make A Tough Decision". Bustle. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
- ^ Falcone, Dana Rose (June 17, 2019). "Bachelor in Paradise: Colton Underwood's Exes Hannah G. and Caelynn Join the Cast". People.
- ^ Krolak, Mike (September 9, 2019). "Bachelor in Paradise 2019, Week 6, Part 1 Recap: Demi Struggles, Caelynn Makes Her Choice". ABC.
- ^ Easton, Anne (January 31, 2019). "'The Bachelor' Breaks New Ground: Some Praise, Some Criticize". Forbes.
- ^ Miller, Victoria (January 30, 2019). "'The Bachelor': Colton Underwood's Conversation With Caelynn About Sexual Assault Was 'The Tip Of The Iceberg'". Inquisitr.
- ^ Howard, Laken (January 29, 2019). "How To Talk To A New Partner About An Experience With Sexual Assault". Bustle.
- ^ "Bachelor Nation's Dean Unglert and Caelynn Miller-Keyes Are Moving to Las Vegas". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
- ^ Wenger, Stephanie (October 25, 2022). "Dean Unglert and Caelynn Miller-Keyes Are Engaged After 3 Years Together". People.
