Caelynn Marie Miller-Keyes (born June 15, 1995) is an American television personality, model, and beauty pageant titleholder. Miller-Keyes received national recognition after appearing as a contestant on season 23 of '' The Bachelor''. 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 ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'', ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'', ''

Inquisitr Inquisitr, a website started in 2007 for news and entertainment stories, was relaunched in May 2011. It is owned and operated by Inquisitr Ltd. History The web domain for Inquisitr was registered in Iceland on August 6, 2007. The company was fo ...

'', ''

Bustle A bustle is a padded undergarment used to add fullness, or support the drapery, at the back of women's dresses in the mid-to-late 19th century. Bustles are worn under the skirt in the back, just below the waist, to keep the skirt from dragging. ...

'', 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. Her mother and maternal grandmother are Native Americans, both enrolled with the

Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians (LTBBOI, oj, Waganakising Odawa) is a federally recognized Native American tribe of Odawa. A large percentage of the more than 4000 tribal members continue to reside within the tribe's traditio ...

. Her paternal grandmother was the first woman to become head of the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. 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. Miller-Keyes attended Stafford Senior High School and

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virginia ...

, where she majored in

broadcast journalism Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...

. Prior to winning

Miss North Carolina USA The Miss North Carolina USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state North Carolina in the Miss USA pageant. This state is part of the RPM Productions group since 1992. In 2005, Miss North Carolina USA Chelsea ...

, Miller-Keyes moved from Virginia to Asheville, North Carolina and began working as a social media consultant.

Career

Pageantry

Miller-Keyes's pageantry career began at the age of 16, after competing in Miss Virginia Teen USA 2013. She competed at the Miss Greater Fairfax Teen USA 2013 preliminary pageant and placed second runner-up before competing and winning th
Miss Arlington County Teen USA 2013
preliminary a month later. She then went on to win the state title on her first attempt, and represented Virginia at

Miss Teen USA 2013 Miss Teen USA 2013 was the 31st Miss Teen USA pageant, held on August 10, 2013 at Atlantis Paradise Island, Nassau, Bahamas and was hosted by Australian journalist Karl Jeno Schmid and Miss Teen USA 2003 Tami Farrell. Logan West of Connecti ...

Atlantis Paradise Island Atlantis Paradise Island is an ocean-themed resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. It is built around Aquaventure, a waterscape. Property history The property was originally part of the Paradise Island Hotel and Casino, which opene ...

in Nassau, Bahamas. Miller-Keyes ultimately did not place in the pageant and the pageant was won by

Cassidy Wolf Cassidy Marie Wolf (born July 5, 1994) is an American TV host, model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Teen USA 2013. Pageants While attending Great Oak High School in Temecula, she was crowned Miss Greater San Diego Teen USA. Wolf was crow ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. Miller-Keyes later crowned Olivia Fletcher as her successor at the end of her reign. Miller-Keyes returned to pageantry several years after winning Miss Virginia Teen USA, and competed in

Miss Virginia USA The Miss Virginia USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Virginia in the Miss USA pageant. Virginia has been only moderately successful in terms of number of semi-finalists. They have had two Miss USAs. ...

in 2016 and 2017, placing as the third runner-up and first runner-up, to Desiree Williams and Jacqueline Carroll, respectively. After moving to

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

, Miller-Keyes competed in Miss North Carolina USA 2018, representing

Asheville Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous ci ...

, where she ended up winning the title and being crowned by outgoing titleholder Katie Coble. As Miss North Carolina USA, Miller-Keyes was given the right to represent North Carolina at the

Miss USA 2018 Miss USA 2018 was the 67th Miss USA pageant. It was held on May 21, 2018 at the Hirsch Memorial Coliseum in Shreveport, Louisiana. Nick Lachey and Vanessa Lachey hosted for the first time, while Carson Kressley and Lu Sierra served as commenta ...

competition, held in Shreveport, Louisiana. While at Miss USA, Miller-Keyes advocated for her platform of sexual assault awareness. She went on to place as the first runner-up in the competition, behind eventual winner Sarah Rose Summers of

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

. After finishing her reign, Miller-Keyes was unable to crown her successor due to filming commitments for '' The Bachelor''. Her successor,

Cheslie Kryst Cheslie Corrinne Kryst (; April 28, 1991 – January 30, 2022) was an American television correspondent, model, and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss USA 2019. Kryst was also an attorney and had served as a correspondent for ''Ex ...

, was instead crowned by Miss North Carolina Teen USA 2018 Kaaviya Sambasivam.

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 The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the ABC Entertainment Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, Cali ...

(ABC) as a contestant on December 6, 2018.

Hannah Brown Hannah Kelsey Brown (born September 24, 1994) is an American television personality and former beauty pageant titleholder. She starred as the lead in season 15 of '' The Bachelorette''. Brown had previously placed in the top seven in season 23 ...

, another contestant, was crowned Miss Alabama USA 2018 and was Miller-Keyes's roommate at Miss USA. 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 #MeToo is a social movement against sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and rape culture, in which people publicize their experiences of sexual abuse or sexual harassment. The phrase "Me Too" was initially used in this context on social media in ...

. 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. 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.

Personal life

, 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 Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020, ...

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 A rape kit or rape test kit is a package of items used by medical personnel for gathering and preserving physical evidence following an allegation of sexual assault. The evidence collected from the victim can aid the criminal rape investigation an ...

, 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. 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 Summerlin is a master-planned community in the Las Vegas Valley of Southern Nevada. It lies at the edge of the Spring Mountains and Red Rock Canyon to the west; it is partly within the official city limits of Las Vegas and partly within uninc ...

, where they will be permanently relocating in April. They got engaged in October 2022.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller-Keyes, Caelynn 1995 births American beauty pageant winners American television personalities American women television personalities Bachelor Nation contestants Female models from North Carolina Female models from Virginia Living people Miss North Carolina USA winners 2013 beauty pageant contestants 21st-century Miss Teen USA delegates Miss USA 2018 delegates Native American female models Odawa people People from Asheville, North Carolina People from Fredericksburg, Virginia Television personalities from North Carolina Television personalities from Virginia Virginia Commonwealth University alumni 21st-century Native American women 21st-century Native Americans