‘BIP’: Dean Unglert Says He’s Teaching Caelynn Miller-Keyes How To Stay Grounded As A Reality TV Star

December 11, 2019

Dean Unglert has a little more experience in being a reality TV star than Caelynn Miller-Keyes.

Caelynn Miller-Keyes and Dean Unglert | Steve Granitz/WireImage

Dean Unglert’s ‘Bachelor’ drama

Bachelor Nation was first introduced to Unglert during Rachel Lindsay’s season of The Bachelorette where he was considered a fan-favorite. But when he starred in Bachelor In Paradise, he got caught up in a love triangle with Kristina Schulman and Danielle Lombard. He received a lot of criticism for that season and he’s been seen as a sort of Bachelor wild card ever since.

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Do you ever do something and wonder "wtf was I thinking" immediately afterward? Yeah, this was one of those times…

A post shared by dean michael unglert (@deanie_babies) on Aug 9, 2017 at 11:54am PDT

Caelynn Miller-Keyes’ ‘Bachelor’ drama

Bachelor Nation was first introduced to Miller-Keyes during Colton Underwood’s season of The Bachelor. She was a polarizing character from the beginning. It became clear that she and Hannah Brown knew each other prior to filming and didn’t get along. Then, later on in the season, she was accused of going on the show for “the wrong reasons.”

When she starred in the most recent season of Bachelor In Paradise, she was involved in even more drama. She told several of her cast-mates that she’d been seeing Blake Horstmann prior to filming and that he ghosted her and made her feel like a “dirty secret.”

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Here we go… I am not here to deny those text messages or the conversations that took place. Things got taken out of context on the show, and a large part of the story is missing. The reality of the situation is that Blake was not a one night stand at a music festival and the ‪5 am‬ text exchange that Blake chose to share is not an accurate representation of our past relationship. I take ownership for what I said on the beach. I was upset and I let my emotions control my words. However, I did not go on a show to ruin someone’s character. I attempted to address my feelings and the situation with Blake face to face. It’s unfortunate that I didn't get the same respect in return, and I am absolutely mortified our private texts were put out there for the world to see and judge by someone who I trusted and consider a friend nonetheless. It’s clear to me that Blake and I had different ideas of what our “relationship” was. We started talking months before Stagecoach. We FaceTimed everyday and talked about potentially skipping paradise to be together. When I say he ghosted me, it was after those few months of us talking. It was my understanding there was no one else and I thought we were on the same page. What infuriates me the most is that I’m being trolled for having sex because of what I’ve been through. I want to be very clear that I am not looking for sympathy. I took the necessary steps to move on and heal, but I will not be abstinent for the rest of my life because of it. This is a complicated situation considering it’s not only on TV, but has taken a life of its own on the internet. This could’ve been over after last night’s episode, but since it’s now all over Instagram, I felt like it was imperative to share my truth. We all have our own perception of how different situations unfold and there are many sides to this story. I hope that we can all move forward and support one another, rather than tear each other down. I have moved on and I am excited to continue to share the rest of my journey with you all.

A post shared by Caelynn Miller-Keyes (@caelynnmillerkeyes) on Aug 7, 2019 at 6:42pm PDT

As the episodes aired, the two got into it on Instagram in an effort to clear their respective names. It was a mess.

Dean Unglert says he’s keeping Caelynn Miller-Keyes grounded

Since Unglert experienced his Bachelor drama first, he feels he can help “ground” his girlfriend.

“I think that we both had to deal with our trials and tribulations both together and separately,” Unglert told Life & Style at KIIS FM’s iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Presented By Capital One on December 6. “You know, she had kind of got put through the wringer with her experience on the show. I’ve been through the wringer in the past and so this time, I was able to kind of like ground her and make her realize that everything’s gonna be OK.”

When Miller-Keyes was a guest on former bachelor Nick Viall’s podcast, The Viall Files, she said she’s thankful Unglert stuck by her when her reputation was crumbling.

“I’m so thankful that I’ve had [Dean] through all this Paradise stuff because I think if I ended up with someone who was just all about their perfect image, they would have left me immediately. And Dean stuck by my side through the horrible times and I’m very thankful for that,” she shared.

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Tammy and uncle Rico take Hawaii

A post shared by Caelynn Miller-Keyes (@caelynnmillerkeyes) on Oct 5, 2019 at 9:18pm PDT

Unglert told Life & Style that he knows how to handle the pressure of appearing on The Bachelor franchise, and he’s happy to teach his girlfriend.

“You do get kind of put through a pressure cooker coming out of the Bachelor franchise, especially … the marriage timelines, everything gets condensed,” he said. “So, I have the luxury of having been through so many times I can kind of like help put things into perspective for her. She’s kind of like she’s like the newer crop of contestants so she kind of keeps things exciting as well you know?”