Caelynn Miller-Keyes knew Dean Unglert was going to propose sometime soon, but she was NOT expecting it on their trip to Hawaii at the end of October. “He did say he was going to propose by the end of the year, so I knew it was coming up,” Caelynn admitted to HollywoodLife in an EXCLUSIVE interview for her new podcast True Crime Reality. “I wasn’t caught off guard with the engagement, but I was caught off guard with where it happened.”
Dean popped the question more than three years after the couple got together on Bachelor in Paradise. Just a few weeks after getting the ring, Caelynn has already started making plans for the pair’s big day. “I love to plan,” she gushed. “It’s my favorite thing in the world. We were flying to the Galapagos this past week and we had six flights, so I had a lot of time on my hands and did a lot of planning.”
Caelynn admitted that she and Dean were first planning an “intimate” wedding in Italy with just family, but they’ve since changed their minds. “Now we’re thinking Aspen and have all our friends and a big party,” she shared. “Dean has this idea, which I think is crazy, but he wants to make it an open invite. I’m like…we are not doing that. How do we even prepare for that with food and drinks?!” As for whether or not the wedding will be televised like the beginning of the couple’s relationship, Caelynn said, “Ehhh, I don’t think so. I was at Krystal [Nielson] and Chris [Randone]’s wedding, which was beautiful, but I just don’t to be around cameras and dodging them like that. So I don’t think so.”
However, Caelynn does still plan to also propose to Dean, which was an idea the two had publicly talked about in the past. “I will just because I promised him I would,” she laughed. “I don’t really want to anymore since we’re already engaged, but I will. I’m still planning on it. I have his ring being made and all that.”
Amidst all of this, though, Caelynn is hard at work on her new podcast, True Crime Reality, which features reality stars sharing crimes that they have a connection to. “I love crime podcasts,” Caelynn dished. “I am crime podcast obsessed, and I also love reality TV. There are so many crime podcasts out there, so this idea came to me and I thought it was the perfect spin on true crime.” See more with our interview with Caelynn below!
On booking guests for the podcast: It’s been challenging, especially since it’s so niche. When I started this I was like, ‘OK, we could potentially run out of episodes really quickly.’ But I think it’s all about having conversations. The more I talk to people and tell them about the podcast, they’re like, ‘Oh, this happened to me.’ Ben Higgins, for example. I’ve been friends with him for a few years and he always has a crazy story to tell, but I never heard the one that he told on the first episode about being part of a drug bust. I think it’s just about talking to people.
On why Ben was the perfect first guest: He was the very first episode I recorded and I’m glad we went with that one. I was so nervous just to be doing this on my own and launching a podcast. He just made me feel so at ease. That’s just Ben Higgins. He makes everyone feel comfortable and he’s such a good storyteller. You could listen to him for hours
On upcoming guests she’s excited about: We have Teddi Mellencamp from Real Housewives of Beverly Hills coming on. Tara from the TV show Dirty John will be on, as well. Meghan King, and then we’re still booking other guests, some from Survivor. It will be really fun.
On her advice to couples on ‘BIP’ trying to make it post-show: I would say don’t read anything. People from the new seasons have such a hard time doing that. Don’t go on Reddit. Don’t read your comments. It’s so toxic. Everyone I talk to is addicted to it, but don’t read anything. Just focus on your relationship. That’s the only way you can grow post-show. That’s something that we did that really helped us. If we were reading that and feeding into it, we never would’ve lasted.
On how her life didn’t turn out how she expected in the best way: I was thinking the other day about how different my life would be if I went the traditional southern root and was a stay at home mom. That’s kind of what I envisioned my life to be — a young mom, maybe travel once every four years. I just had such a different vision for my life. Now we’re traveling all the time, we get to take photos everywhere and it’s so great. He’s opened my eyes to such a different way of living.