It’s (almost) time! Bachelorette star Michelle Young stunned in a one-of-a-kind gown designed by Stanley Hudson in the latest promo video for season 18.
In the video dropped on Tuesday, August 31, the leading lady, 28, could be seen entering a room filled with unique flower installments reaching up to the ceiling, which were designed by L.A.-based florist Maurice Harris, owner of Bloom and Plume.
Michelle looked drop-dead gorgeous in a white, one-shouldered gown with silver detailing and a thigh-high slit. The dress was designed by Stanley, who was the runner-up during season 11 of Project Runway and also works as the costume designer on the show Black-ish. She finished the look with a gold belt and dangling diamond earrings.
After walking through the flower-filled room, the Minnesota native entered a gymnasium. She started dribbling a basketball before shooting it into a diamond-encrusted hoop.
The Bachelor Nation babe actually played collegiate basketball for Bradley University in Woodbury, Minnesota, and has a ton of accolades under her belt. The athlete is actually the 13th-highest scorer in Bradley’s athletic history with a total of 1,062 points scored during her college career.
As a nod to her teaching career, the teaser video continues with Michelle walking through a classroom and grabbing a red apple off of one of the desks. “I’m looking for someone who’s going to change the world with me. I’m ready,” she can be heard saying.
It comes as no surprise that Michelle tapped both a Black designer and a Black-owned florist business to set the tone for her season. The teacher has been outspoken about recent conversations surrounding race within the Bachelor franchise. She reflected on former contestant Rachael Kirkconnell’s social media racism controversy following Matt James’ season on After the Final Rose.
“As more and more information started to come out, I started to feel hurt by what I was seeing,” Michelle said at the time about the scandal surrounded the season 25 winner, 24, who is currently dating Matt, 29. “That was a prime example of not understanding the history behind it, not being educated enough on what that actually meant, what her actions actually meant; how we see it. I feel like Rachael has a good heart. But I think there’s a lot of learning. It comes off very inconsiderate.”
Michelle was Matt’s runner-up, and she admitted she “didn’t know” he was going to end things with her during the finale.
“It was so hard to continue to put myself in that vulnerable position and fall,” she said during the “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast in March about her split from Matt. “Then get to the evening portion, and these uneasy feelings were going on the entire time. That was the difficult part. I understood that things were going to change fast.”
She added that she had been getting a “positive response” from the leading man during their day together, which made the end even more surprising. “That was the hardest part for me. I felt like I did the groundwork to cover my bases to make sure, ‘Ok, cool, I’m going to keep being vulnerable.’ And it was pulled away a little bit,” Michelle explained.
Hopefully, she finds her Mr. Right during season 18!