The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast - Almost Famous In Depth: Caelynn Miller-Keyes

Episode Date: May 25, 2020

Ben and Ashley sit down with Caelynn Miller Keyes to go IN DEPTH about her life leading up to “The Bachelor” and how her experience on the show changed her perspective. All the information you crave, from getting cast for The Bachelor to her history with Hannah B and  how it felt to be passed over for The Bachelorette.Get an inside look at her relationship with Dean and the truth about their wedding rings! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Hi, my name is Enya Eumanzor. And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you. But if you have unmedicated ADHD... Oh my God, perfect. And want to hear people with mental illness, psychobabble.

Yes, yes. Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you. Open your... free iHeart radio app search emergency intercom and listen now what would you do if one bad decision forced you to choose between a maximum security prison or the most brutal boot camp designed to be hell on earth unfortunately for mark lombardo this was the choice he faced he said you are a number a new york state number and we own you listen to shock incarceration on the i heart radio app Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Super Secret Bestie Club podcast season four is here. And we're locked in. That means more juicy chisement. Terrible love advice. Evil spells to cast on your ex. No, no, no, we're not doing that this season. Oh. Well, this season, we're leveling up.

Each episode will feature a special Bestie, and you're not going to want to miss it. My name is Curley. And I'm Maya. Kid in! Listen to the Super Secret Bestie Club on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. I just normally do straight stand-up, but this is a bit different. What do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club?

Answer, a new podcast called Wisecrack, where a comedian finds himself at the center of a chilling true crime story. Does anyone know what show they've come to see? It's a story. It's about the scariest night of my life. This is Wisecrack. Available now. Listen to Wisecrack on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I just think the process and the journey is so delicious. That's where all the good stuff is. You just can't live and die by the end result. That's comedian Phoebe Robinson. And yeah, those are the kinds of gems you'll only hear on my podcast, The Bright Side. I'm your host, Simone Boyce. I'm talking to the brightest minds in entertainment,

health, wellness, and pop culture. And every week, we're going place. places in our communities, our careers, and ourselves. So join me every Monday and let's find the Bright Side together. Listen to The Bright Side on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Ben and Ashley I, almost famous in depth. We promised we'd have more. Ashley and I are back with another episode of Almost Famous in Depth. Ashley, before we tell, which I guess you could probably read it by now in the bio. our listeners who's on today, how are you feeling and what are you most excited for for this

interview? I feel like Kalin for the past year has just been like so happy with Dean and I feel like I'm excited to get to know more about like the behind the scenes of their relationship and also so many things that I feel like we haven't, we didn't get to discuss with her back during like Colton season in Paradise. That's right. Well, before we bring on our guest, which as Ashley said is Kaelin Miller Keys. A little background on Kaelin Miller Keys. She was born June 15th, 1995 in Fredericksburg, Virginia. A childhood illness almost left her paralyzed. At a young age, she had a virus that led to inflammation of the brain. She suffered a complete loss of muscle control and doctors only gave her a 10% chance of walking again. Well, we know that we start there.

100% I was going to say we know where that story continues to and it continues to us today on the almost he was podcast hey cailin hi thanks for having me guys hey caylin so tell us about this horrible thing you experience as a kid yeah um so when i was two i was diagnosed with encephalitis and my mom took me to so many different doctors and so many different hospitals and she's like something is wrong with my daughter and it just She reminds me of that Grace Anatomy episode where the mom is like, no, like something is wrong with my son. And she finds out that he has that random disease. And so all the doctors were like, it's a cold, she'll be fine.

And she was like, no, I promise like something's wrong with her. And so after a couple, maybe like a week or two of that, she met a doctor and was like, we have to helly back her out. Like she is kind of on the brink of death. She has encephalitis. Her brain is swelling. And we need to get this taken care of. So it was so far gone at that point because doctors had misdiagnosed me that they were like, you only have a 10% chance of walking if you live and your chances of living are very slim. So I mean, I don't know how I got through it or survived, but my mom, like, never fighting is just, she's just an incredible woman.

How rare is encephalitis? How rare? rare um i think it was more rare in the 90s or it was like harder to diagnose i think in the 90s but people still have it it's just it's really bad for young kids to have it so how do you get it catch it or how to develop it you know i should probably do more research i think it's a virus i think it's a virus that you catch yeah wow just for my own personal knowledge did you go see Were you helicoptered? Were you helicoptered to a Nova, Fairfax? No, I should have been, but we were to the ICU hospital. Oh, really? Interesting, because my dad works at Fairfax. Oh, really? They're much nicer,

but we only have Mary Wash and Frederick Spurray, and that's just not the best hospital. All right. So then how'd you get through that? Like, did you have to rehab? Are you in the hospital for days, weeks? Yeah. So I was in the hospital for at least two weeks. And my mom said I was the smiliest, happiest kid. And she was like for two weeks straight, you didn't crack a smile. Like we had people doing everything to try and make you smile. Like I loved it when people heard themselves like trip and fall and stuff. And they tried everything. They put on my favorite shows. And then they brought in a therapy dog on the second week, 14 days in. And it was a little Jack Russell

that hopped in bed with me. And it was the first time I smiled. And my mom said I started getting better pretty soon after that. How often does your mom talk about this? Not too often, but growing up she definitely let me know, like, you're lucky. Like you're very lucky to be walking, to be living. And she tells the stories, I get confused. I was just talking about this. I get confused like what my memories are and what the memories that she's told me are.

But she was in the hospital by my side every single day, They had the whole church praying for us. And she said they were giving me anesthesia, but I wasn't reacting to it for some type of medicine. And so they just kept giving me more and more and more. And she said I started screaming and just saw spiders like crawling from the ceilings because it all hit me at once. And just to remind everybody and for clarity, you were how old? Two. Oh my gosh.

So are you even able to speak yet? Were you speaking? You're like a toddler. So I think you're like saying little words here and there. Yeah. So, okay. Who else was in your? life at this time was your mom was very present we you also have a sister you have a dad of course

and a stepdad so where was your parents relationship at this point um my parents separated when i was three months old so i don't remember him being there i don't remember my mom saying he came down i don't really think that sounds like him so it was just her like by my side every night and i think my grandma took care of my sister because she was obviously young and couldn't stay at the hospital with ours. And then how many siblings? I have three brothers and three sisters. But it was just me and her at the time. Oh, wow. Okay. So I said you have one sister because I'm going off of what we saw on your hometown date. So why weren't all your siblings there not to jump ahead, but? They were all there, but they just didn't want to talk to that, I guess. My brother was so upset.

He still gets upset. He's like, why didn't anyone want to talk to me? And I'm like, I didn't make decision. I'm sorry. No way. That's so funny. They made it seem like you and your sister was the one that they had. He had to impress. No, it was weird. I don't know. The, uh, Kaelin, coming up with a childhood story like this is, I mean, I'm just sitting here. I'm like, wow, that has to be tough. Is there, do you ever feel growing up like, what was your childhood like then? Was there just an appreciation for you? Yeah, I think my mom was just so appreciative that I was living that she was also there through therapy. I had to learn how to re-walk again. So I started to lose all my motor skills and I couldn't feed myself.

I couldn't walk. So I had to relearn how to do all of those things, to eat, to walk, to do anything for myself. So she was there through all of that. And it was just, she also like did a lot of research on brains. And she said that my personality changed drastically when I went through that. When you go through a brain trauma, you can change. And so I always like wonder what I would or who I would have been if I hadn't gone through that. Interesting. Because you said that you were so smiley beforehand. I always think of you as smiley now.

So it didn't change your happiness. I think maybe I was more outgoing and then going through that I came out more shy. I don't know. Who knows? Is this one of the reasons you love dogs so much too? Yes. I just love them so much. And I think therapy dogs are just amazing.

I want to make Pappy a therapy dog. but they just I don't know there's something about like touching and holding a dog that just makes you happy it makes you smile like pappy I feel like pappy is a therapy dog like just I'm just by nature no he is Dean tried to take him he like cuddles me every night and the other night Dean tried to take him and I was like I literally can't sleep about this dog like he can't take him well hey just let everybody know we're talking about pappy because uh Caitlin I'm going to give you a second here to introduce pappy but he is sitting on your lap he is right here with us. He is our fourth or I guess our second guest on this episode.

Yeah, so Pappy, we adopted him back in maybe February. We were fostering in January because Dean obviously broke his leg and we knew we'd be home. So we were like, we might as well foster while we're here, not traveling. So he fostered, fell in love with this little man and now he's our perfect little son. He's such an Instagram celebrity. People are so invested in his health and like his recovery he just had surgery and everyone just loves him he's so sweet he's so sweet um okay so let's go back to your childhood for a second so your parents divorced the age of three how did that affect your relationship with your father um so they separated when i was three months oh three months whoops my bad i i knew that in my head i just didn't say that loud um so for me

i just i didn't know anything except to have my mom there and my mom is just the most incredible selfless woman like she did such a good job of raising us and never I never felt like I was missing anything like I never felt like I was missing a dad um and then when I was about five she married my stepdad so he kind of if I did have a void to fill he filled that do you feel like you and dean have bonded over the the fact that your father figure in life hasn't been like stereotypical yeah like we we definitely have a different family dynamic than most like we both do so we can relate to that and I you know quarantine has been so tough that I was like I've got to go see a therapist what I've been putting off for so long so we've been like talking through

what I'm learning in therapy and things like that but we definitely have some similarities I obviously we've got to have Dean on an in-depth podcast before and he's always an open book which I really do appreciate about that man I love Dean very much by the way just to let you know I don't know if you knew that um he's wonderful so growing up then in this family, when did, at what point in your childhood did you start to find a desire for performance? Honestly, never. I was the most shy kid growing up. I could barely speak to strangers. I was just like, I was always the sidekick and the background person, just like cheering my friends on who were always loved to be in the limelight and just loved to the attention. And I never

wanted that. But when I was 15, my friend had a little pin for Miss Virginia, United States. And I was like, what is that? And I asked her about it. We talked about it. And I was like, all right, might as well try it. I don't know what inspired me to do it. But after my first one, I got to meet so many girls. And I got to come out of my shell. When you're 15 and walking in a swimsuit, it definitely brings you out of your comfort zone. And so it was from there. I just fell in love with it and I loved being on stage and I loved just breaking down those barriers that I built up. So it was really home. You're 15. That's wild. I can't imagine. I can't imagine walking around a swimsuit at 15 years old in front of people. I know. It's kind of gross

to think about it. I'm like, why did I do that? What was the hardest part of pageant life? oh um probably the comparison and yeah just the comparison and the comparison and the competition aspect like people can be mean and mostly the moms can be mean and it was just tough to hear people just say not some nice things and there's like anonymous boards that people can post on and just like rip you apart so that was i learned when i was 15 like what my mental strength is and what I can handle and what I can't, which helps me in The Bachelor in a sense, because there's obviously Reddit and things that you can read and comments. And I was like, I know that this will hurt me. I know I can't handle it. So I'm just not going to even go there. So this is a common,

you're telling me it's common for the moms to outwardly express like criticism towards you at a like a young teen level. Like that was an accepted culture. Well, like whispers. And there's one point in a, like pageants, I think they're great. This is just like my one negative. I was sitting at a pageant in the audience and I was just hearing people and not I don't want to like crap on pageantry in any way, but I was just hearing people criticize like a girl comes out. Oh, I hate that dress. Oh, I hate her walk. Oh, I hate this. I hate that. I hate that. I hate her hair. And I was like, that's not what this should be. And it's, I'm not saying every pageant person is like that. But it's mostly the moms are just like critiquing every single girl that walks out there who's putting themselves out there. I can't imagine then how that prepped you 100%. Oh, I know. I know. I know. I think that's probably the best prep work for The Bachelor. Yeah. What's the biggest misconception about pageants? The girls don't get along.

Some of my best best friends are from pageantry. And yes, there are like those mean moments that you would think that happen, but they're very rare. For the most part, people are very supportive. And, you know, that was just me sitting watching. But when you're actually backstage and you're getting. to meet the girls for the most part everyone's great and wonderful and you just like develop this really close bond can talk about the um the work that goes into preparing for a pageant because you were in it for a good number of years before you were crowned miss uh north carolina so you started

15 and then you were crowned miss north carolina at 21 22 yeah so how did you get in that like mindset constantly preparing yourself it's so funny because i forgot about this podcast and at 11 a.m. I was like, oh, crap, I have the podcast. And I was literally taken back to pageantry where I was like, I haven't prepared. I haven't like thought of the questions. And I'm like, oh my gosh, like it's, it's not a big deal. But you really do have to like go through each question and kind of find the right thing to say, find your stance on issues at such a young age of things that, you know, most kids aren't thinking about. I mean, like, what were the questions? What are the questions in the pageant world? I don't know.

I don't know pageants at all to be to be clear. Like I, I don't know this world. And so I come into this. I'm like, I'm still amazed that you're able to get up on a stage at 15. I don't get how you could do that. I just would be I was so insecure. But then what questions are they asking you? The questions of the

hardest part, I'm like, whenever everybody watches a pageant, they're like, oh, I just can't wait for the questions because it's just so awkward because even if you are super eloquent and educated, speaking your opinion on a hot topic, a political topic, just at the drop of a hat.

is so stressful yes and like you've got the intense music behind you just like making it even worse making your nerves worse but it is it's like controversial topics it's hot topics in the news people ask about gun control they'll ask about gay marriage they'll ask about I'm thinking about like miss USA 2009 it was about gay marriage and I think maybe gun control it's just like anything that's relevant in the news and nothing's off limits what a prep I mean what a prep for a show that then I know we're gonna jump in and talk about here in just a second. What kind of life skills do you think

this pageant world taught you? I think it gave me the ability to think on my feet. And I tend to be a very fast talker because I'm like, oh, I only have 15 seconds to answer. So I get a lot of things out very quickly, which I'm working on. But also it's, I don't know. It's taught me a lot. I don't know. My mind's like jumping to a million places right now.

Well, when you were doing pageants, you had a sexual assault be one of your platforms because that was something that you experienced and were very open with on The Bachelor in college. So I kind of want to get into that and how you decided to make that your platform and when you started getting comfortable talking about that experience. Yeah, I actually remember I was at Miss Virginia, USA. maybe a year, maybe or a couple months. It was probably a year after it happened. And I was talking to one of my

girlfriends and I was like, this happened to me and it was brutal and I'm still going through it and I kind of want to talk about it, but no one's really talked about it. So I don't know if it's appropriate. I don't know what people's response will be because I think at the time

Trump owned Miss USA for a long time. And I remember people saying not to talk about it. I think for that reason. I don't know. But there are a lot of people saying like yes or no. And I was finally like, this has been exhausting. This has been so difficult. There are not enough resources for people to know what to do if it happens to you. You wake up and you're like, I don't know where to go from here. And so I was like, I have to talk about this. If people shame me, if people guilt me,

if people think that I'm crazy for talking about this, whatever. But if it helps someone, that's all I could ask for. What was your hope? I wanted people to know that they weren't alone because waking up and just you just have this pit in your stomach. You feel this hopelessness and helplessness. And I just wanted to help girls who felt that way too. And I wanted them to be knowledgeable and know what to do if this happens. And also, I don't know, there was just such a stigma.

I remember my assault happened a week before the Rolling Stones article came out. and then there was and it was a girl at UVA I believe my brain is scattered but I think she's at UVA and she came forward did a Rolling Stones article about her sexual assault and then it came out that she maybe fabricated it or things weren't lining up so then nobody wanted to come forward they're like well I'm going to be considered a liar so I wanted people to know like it doesn't matter what people say just speak your truth own you know speak up and it's an important topic do you feel talking to us about what happened within the year because you started talking about it more openly at a year at what point did you like tell your mom and uh talk to your close best friends about it

because i know that it it all happened when you're with your best friends right a night going out in college are you open to yeah so yeah so in a way it sounds weird but i do feel lucky that i went through it with other people. If there was any luck in any of this, I do feel lucky that none of us were alone. We all had each other to lean on and we were like, we all woke up that next morning and we're all confused. And we went to the hospital together. We filed police reports together. We talked to the detectives together. And so me thinking about other people just like the bravery it takes to do all of that alone is just absolutely incredible to me. But, yeah, I didn't tell my mom until probably five months later. I just felt so much shame and so much

guilt. And I almost called her in the hospital the night that it happened, but or the night after it happened. But I was just like, she's going to be so ashamed of me. I was drinking. You know, there were other things been fault, like, you know, sexual things. Like, she's going to be so ashamed. And I remember when she found out, like, she was there. She's meeting with my lawyers immediately. She was at the school immediately. She was doing everything she could to fight for me. And I wish I told her immediately because she just had my back in, has had my back ever since. Can you talk about what you mentioned the hospital did the night when you reported it?

Because wasn't there something very strange? Yeah. So the next day I woke up and I was like trying to figure out what happened. And you're piecing things together. It wasn't just cut and clear like this happened. It was over the course of that entire day where we, we were piecing things together and figuring it out. So when I went to the hospital, I was like, let me just get a, to see, let me see if I was

had any drugs in my system. If I was drugged, then I'll know, like, for sure something was wrong. And so I went to a hospital and they said, we can't. And I told them, I was like, I think I was sexually assaulted last night. I told them and they said, I'm sorry, but unless you file a police report, we're not going to test you, which they can't do. And at the point, I didn't know what had happened. I didn't know if there was a sexual assault.

I wanted to get tested to see if there were drugs in my system. We were still figuring things out at that point. So then the day passes and we're all just feeling more and more weird. We found out an additional detail. And I was like, all right, at this point, I'm ready to file a police report. So we're the other two girls and we filed together. I'm so confused how the hospital expected you to go to the police file a report before seeking medical advice and attention yeah it didn't make any sense and even still today the only thing

that's left with my case is that hospital bill that i'm fighting i'm like you didn't do anything you turned me away i'm not paying this and it's like a small hospital bill but i'm not going to pay it when you turned me away for medical attention that i needed this is still this is still something you're fighting today yeah it's ridiculous can i have to uh ask then how did this affect your relationship meant um people just i mean everyone who's gone through this experience this horrific experience responds differently and at first i shut down and then i covered it up by jumping into a new relationship because i just i've never been good about dealing with things that have happened to me like traumas that i've experienced in my life i always just shut down um i went through trauma when i was a

kid and my mom tried to take me to therapy and I just colored the whole time because I just I can't do it I couldn't at that point so my response was just to ignore it it happened I'm you know trying to deal with it and so I'm just going to jump into a new relationship this guy doesn't go to my school he's graduated college my response is just like everything's fine which you know was not the healthy way to do it at all but um so my relationship with him it was fine for the most part and then sometimes it would hit me what happened and the severity of what happened and I would just break down and start crying and I never I never processed it so my relationship with him was just like kind of weird because I would I don't know just break down every so often

about it and this is the new relationship the relationship right after this is yeah this was the new one and I just felt like a sense of trust with him that I just needed and so I never felt anything weird with him but i do remember if a man would kind of like touch my shoulder or even my stepdad who's like been my dad since i was five would like touch i would still jump but with that new relationship i was in i just like created this bond and trust and like this necessity that i needed that i didn't feel that with him what's your perspective on all the day um well now i've like sought out therapy and i've like gone you know i'm still it's not something that you can like work through quickly. I'm still working through it, but I'm happy I came out of it the way that I did.

I'm happy that I'm stronger. I'm happy that I can now appreciate the incredible men in my life and the incredible relationship that I'm in now and just, I think, have trust with Dean and I don't know. I'm sure looking back, just like most things in life, you know, there's lessons learned. and obviously in your case there is a lot of things that you've had to process and work through as you mentioned

still working through what would if we just kind of give you the platform which you loved you on almost on the in-depth episodes to say there's somebody out there listening to this who could have been a victim of something similar

to what you have been a victim of what would be your message for them now looking back on what was this eight years ago I think six maybe six years ago years what would be your lessons of things learned um if someone's gone through it or going through it i keep getting so many messages especially now when everyone's just sitting with their thoughts and they're

like all right it's time that i finally cope with this i would say the biggest thing again it's weird to say that we're lucky but we are lucky to be in this time where we have so many women standing in solidarity and men standing up and saying me too me too me too we are lucky in that sense where we don't have to feel shameful. We don't have to feel, or I guess, feel less shameful. I would also say to seek help and not do what I did, not just cover it up and mask it because it will come out and it'll be ugly and it's better to just deal with it head on and life gets better. Life gets much better. And the strength that you'll have when you come out of this is just will be amazing. And looking back, I didn't know I could be this strong. I didn't know I could be this vocal and be an advocate for

something that is it's just it's so horrific that it still happens and that i'm still getting dms and i don't know it's it's despicable but it's weird to say that we're lucky but we are lucky to be in a time where we don't feel like our voices are being restricted in any way that's beautiful kaelin you've been through a lot you know i mean think about what we just talked about since the beginning of this uh podcast yeah you've been through a lot it's it's weird to think about and going through therapy my therapist is like anyone else talking about this is going to be crying but you're just a practical person and i am practical in the sense where it's like i can't change what happened to me all i can do is grow through it and learn from it

and try to become a better person well thanks for sharing yeah thank you it means a lot um let's take a break when we come back uh we're going to jump into the next stage of your life which happens to include the Bachelor franchise and a guy we know named Colton Underwood. Hey, we'll come back on the Almost Famous In-Depth with Kalyn Miller Keys. Hi, my name is Enya Yumanzoor. And I'm Drew Phillips.

And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast. you. But if you have unmedicated ADHD... Oh my God, perfect. And want to hear people with mental illness, psychobabble. Yes, yes. Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you. Open your free IHeartRadio app. Search Emergency Intercom and listen now.

Imagine that you're on an airplane and all of a sudden you hear this. Attention passengers. The pilot is having an emergency and we need someone, anyone to land this plane. Think you could do it? It turns out that nearly 50% of men think that they could land the plane with the help of air traffic control. And they're saying like, okay, pull this, and so this. Pull that. Turn this. It's just, I can do my eyes close. I'm Mani.

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I know it sounds like the start of a bad joke, but that really was my reality nine years ago. I'd just normally do straight stand-up, but this is a bit different. On stage stood a comedian with a story that no one expected to hear. Well, 22nd of July 2015, a 23-year-old man had killed his family. And then he came to my house.

So what do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club. A new podcast called Wisecrack, where stand-up comedy and murder takes center stage. Available now. Listen to Wisecrack on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Your entire identity has been fabricated.

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we continue to be moved and inspired by our guests and their courageously told stories. I can't wait to share 10 powerful new episodes with you, stories of tangled up identities, concealed truths, and the way in which family secrets almost always need to be told. I hope you'll join me and my extraordinary guests for this new season of family secrets. Listen to Family Secrets, Season 12 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Super Secret Festi Club podcast Season 4 is here.

And we're locked in. That means more juicy chisement. Terrible love advice. Evil spells to cast on your ex. No, no, no, no, no, we're not doing that this season. Oh, well, this season, we're leveling up. Each episode will feature a special bestie, and you're not going to want to miss it. Get in here!

Today, we have a very special guest with us. Our new super secret bestie is The Deepa of the People. The Deepa of the People. I'm just like text your ex. My theory is that if you need to figure out that the stove is hot, go and touch it. Go and figure it out for yourself. Okay. That's us.

We're in the head. That's us. My name is Curley, and I'm Maya. In each episode, we'll talk about love, friendship, heart breaks, men, and of course, our favorite secrets. Listen to the Super Secret Bestie Club as a part of the Michael Thura podcast network available on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. We're back with Kalin Miller Keys. Kailen, I want to just start again. We just took a little break.

I apologize first off I'm stuffy from allergies and and so that's getting me it's not the best of voices right now not that it ever is but uh Kaelin thank you for for sharing thanks for being a good advocate and thanks for educating me on a lot of these things so I just I appreciate that that's what I was thinking about during break and and Ashley I think you feel the same way totally um okay so while this all went down you were at Virginia Commonwealth Well at the University, VCU, and you were studying broadcast journalism, and you were also doing pageants. And did you graduated the same year that you did your, that you won Miss North Carolina? The year after. Okay. So all this is, I don't know. All this was happening. And you, did you,

did you want a career somewhere where, like, you were going to be front and center? Yeah, which is so strange because looking back in my life, I was never that way when I was a kid. But going through pageants, it's kind of most people start studying broadcast journalism. And I was like, I'm in pageants. I might as well follow along and try sports broadcasting. I know nothing about sports, though. And I was like, that is the dumbest thing. I would be a terrible sports broadcaster.

And so I graduated and I just, I fell in love with journalism. I always love journalism, even in high school. I did print, but broadcast I especially loved. And, yeah, it was just, it was fun to be in front of the camera. It was fun to edit your own things, also shoot the camera? So when you signed up for The Bachelor, was that during your stint as Ms. North Carolina? Because isn't that illegal in pageant world? You can't like cite.

I know we've talked about this before on the podcast, I won't bring it back up. But I remember when I was looking into pageants, I was like, oh, I'd have. to basically choose one or the other and now we see a whole bunch of pageant girls on the show but back during your day or like when you signed up for it i feel like it wasn't legal right it was okay i don't think there was anything in the contract at that point um i remember calling my director and i was like hey i think i'm going to do this and she didn't tell me that hannah was doing it which is so funny um but yeah so i signed up i told my director and she said just make sure you're back for the crowning of Miss North Carolina. And I thought for sure I would be, one,

I'm probably going home night one. And two, they're usually in the States. And I talked to someone and I was like, is it possible if we're still in the States for me to fly back? And they're like, yeah, it could be possible. So I was like, if I don't go for some crazy reason, don't go home night one, like we'll still make it back. But we ended up being in Vietnam. There's no way I can fly home from Vietnam. And then go crown the girl and then come back. You had you were in Vietnam and somebody who's trying to convince you that you could possibly make this whole thing work. Yeah. Unbelievable. So how did it play out? Unfortunately, I missed it. And I mean, it's a bummer, but my teen is incredible and she took it over. There's like Miss North Carolina teen and she

essentially, it's like placing a crown on someone's head. And it is like, it is important. I won't say that it's not important. But also at the time I was in Vietnam and I was like, I think I might really love this man. So am I really going to place a crown on someone's head and give up a man that I might love? So that's how I justified it. And it's, you know, it wasn't the best, but it happened. All right. So there's obviously a lot of jealousy when it comes to pageants. When you weren't crowned Miss USA and you saw a friend to get crowned Miss USA, like you have to be honest with the feelings that run through your body in that moment. I remember us like holding hands at the end and the cameras are spinning and we're like

holy crap like neither one of us thought we would ever be here we maybe thought we'd make the top 15 and even that we felt like was a stretch and it's on national television what was this broadcasted on what was it NBC maybe yeah the box you are on primetime TV for the first time too yeah it was it was insane and just to know like the best friend that I made at miss USA it was like me and her at the end. She was like, I think we just kept saying, like, I'm going to come visit you in New York. And she was like, I'm going to come visit you in New York because whoever wins moves to New York. And then they called her. And for a split second, there was a pit in my stomach. And I was like, dang it. And then I was like, this is incredible. Like, this is so incredible.

I didn't think I was going to place. I went to Miss Teen USA. Didn't place. Like, this is awesome. And I was so happy for her. And she was an incredible Miss USA. So there was really no jealousy there with Miss USA. So, but do you feel like jealousy was the root of your issues with Hannah Brown during that whole pageant, that year of pageantry? No, I wouldn't say it was jealousy. I, you guys are roommates. Like, tell us about the first moment you met. Yeah. So also, I'm just like, I am such a freaking different person from Miss USA until now. So it's so weird to think about. But. So Hannah and I met when she was crowned, and I was already close with Miss Louisiana,

and she's still one of my, like, best friends. I love her to death. And she was crowned, and we were excited to bring her into, like, the RPM family. We met, we were hanging out, loved her. We, like, got along great. What does RPM stand for? Yeah. Ryan Paul Morgan.

It's like their production company. Oh, okay, thanks. Sorry, sorry. and so yeah we met we like were great friends and then um i don't know i just there was like a ripped in the friendship and it was like just small things and i'm the type of person all right used to be that person and i'm not anymore thanks to the bachelor and just like producers pound like you know hounding it on me that i need to grow a backbone and i need to speak up for myself and i used to be the way where if something bothered me i would just let it bottle like

up and I would just kind of push that person away because I would rather do that than deal with confrontation which is terrible so I kind of was doing that with Hannah and there were just like little things here and there that I was like I don't know if I I don't know it's just like hard to explain so then we go to Miss USA and you explain one little thing like I don't want to pressure you but like give us one example it just it was starting to feel competitive and I didn't want our friendship to feel competitive, but it's natural to feel competitive because we are competing against one another, you know? And I just, I didn't like that. And it wasn't anything like, I just felt that way. It's not necessarily something she was doing or anything like that.

I just felt like it was getting too competitive. And I don't know. It's just like so weird to look back on. But so we go to Miss USA and I just got very quiet. And that's just who I am, especially when I'm competing, I was just, like, quiet, and I would have my headphones in. I would listen to the news. And I just didn't like to, you know, hear different things. Like, I just, I like to be in my own bubble. And she likes to have, you know, family talking and hyping her up, but that gets in my head. So I would, like, have headphones in and kind of get frustrated.

I was like, I don't want to hear about how amazing your body is. I know it's amazing. I only worked out three times before this. Like, I feel like, so I just, I can't. it was like those types of things and it wasn't anything she was doing intentionally it was just me not being confident in myself got it so then when you guys both separately sign up for the show and you both get cast i believe that you guys probably both would have been cast regardless of whether or not you had a relationship um was there anything that you lent to them in casting

that would have made them think oh these two had beef and this little bit be great drama for the show? Um, I think we weren't following each other on the time where we both went into the casting office and she went in before me and I went in right after her or maybe vice versa. But yeah, so I think we weren't following each other. We come in at the same time where like we just got back from Miss USA and they probably saw that we weren't following each other and they're like, oh, there's something there. You think they're that good?

Like they would pick up on that? Maybe. Did you think she said anything? We had photos together. You had photos together. Okay. Yeah, we had photos together, but like down a little bit, not too far, I guess. I don't know.

I don't think she would have said anything like, oh, I hate Caitlin, but... Just to give me some clarity here, did either of you know that the other person was there? I did. We were both at this conference and she came in after her casting. So I guess... Did I go in first? One of us went in first. And she came back in.

And she was like dressed up all cute. And there was a conference where no one dressed up cute. And she told one of our friends, she was like, I just got back from the bachelor casting. And I was like, oh, shoot. That's kind of when I found out. So like this was like before top 50 in the in L.A. casting. Like this is one like you guys were casting in different states when they like do the tour. Yeah.

And when they're like, if you're in L.A., come by. Yeah. So we were both in L.A. So we did like the come by thing in the office. Oh, wow. Okay, very interesting. I want to know what the producers were thinking at this point. I mean, now knowing how far and how much of an impact you've had on Bachelor

like Nation, I want to know if they at the time were like, holy cow, we just hit a jackpot. Like two beautiful girls, charismatic, both know each other, have probably some storyline leading up to this. Like, I bet they were freaking out. Yeah. So then you show up night one. you see Hannah what went through your body? At that point I knew because I was even in the hotel room and I was talking producers. I was like, I know Hannah's here. And they're like,

what? And I was like, no, Hannah's here. I know it. And it's fine. Like, I don't care. We're like civil. We're fine. And then I saw her walk in and we were like talking. We were like boasting by the bar and she was like, I haven't talked to him yet. Have you talked to him yet? I'm so nervous. So we were like, we were fine. so that where the drama come from do you think that you guys were riled up by producers or do you think that like the feelings that you felt months prior started to just regurgitate yeah i mean you know there's so many different factors and it's easy to get jealous when you're competition like it just it it was the perfect pot for us to kind of i don't know hash out everything

Do you remember how it started? Which you didn't really did. Like, how did you start then talking about it? Um, well, Colton pulled me aside the night of the pirate date and was like, well, Hannah said these things about you. And so, I mean, a little backstory with that, the reason it kind of looks manipulative when you watch it back because I'm like starting crying and I'm like, there's things that you don't know. And so at the pirate date, I was still going through my case with my sexual assault.

and we were at the point where we were settling with the school because they had just done so many things wrong in my case and they were like you know you can take us to court or we can settle and so I got a call about the case and it just really upset me and the fact that this has now been going on for you know three years or four years and I'm having to deal with this like have my lawyers call producers and producers call me and tell me like it was just it was so far. frustrating and it was really bad news that we got and it was super upsetting and I'm like four years and we have nothing like there's nothing from this so then Colton pulls me aside and I'm already just like so upset and I've been trying to mask it and then he brings that up and I'm like this is annoying and I'm dealing with others I don't even want to talk about that right now so that's kind of and watching it back I'm like that looks manipulative and it wasn't it was just me like trying to process what was going on in my life outside of this world got it did you know at this point then that the hannah feud what like was it even on your mind no uh because that date

yeah i was just like i remember i was just focused on colton and i had the pirate thing and i was like determined to win i was like i am going to win this and it is obviously a little rigged for me to win but yeah i was just focused on like having fun and enjoying that pirate date so if we watch a season back and we were prepping for it it kind of then like just it went through a couple episodes you and hannah kind of feuding and then it just ends like why what happened um i remember i totally remember that night and i was like i just i don't want to have this thing I don't want to, like, there's no fight to be had. And it was, from my side of things, it was like me at Miss USA, like, processing things

differently and me being passive, way, way, way too passive and just being like not being able to vocalize like, hey, this upsets me, whatever. There was just no big thing. And that's the thing. It's like, also the producers, they were like, we don't know how to deal with this. We've never had two people outside of the show, like have two different things coming on because we don't know how to hash this out. And so I was like, well, let's just, or I don't think it was my idea, but it was someone's

idea for me to grab Hannah and just be civil and be like, this is stupid. This is really dumb. We both like Colton, let's move on. Let's like be friendly. We don't have to be best friends, but we can be friendly, not have to be separated all the time. And I remember that next day after the fight, we like got her nails done together and we were talking, everything was fine, which sounds crazy, but it worked for us.

you guys like you you solved your relationship problem there in the moment but you guys were never going to be best friends ever again how did it feel that she became bachelorette and mean like you got miss USA runner up and then she got bachelorette there must have been some envy there um I'm trying to think back I remember getting the call that it wasn't me for bachelorette and I was like dang that kind of sucks um but And then I found out it was her at Woman's Hell All. We all kind of knew at Women's Tallol that it was her. And it hurt.

It definitely hurt. But I mean, yeah, it stung. And I was upset. And I was like, I kind of was led to believe that it was mine. And then suddenly it wasn't. And it was Hannah's. And, you know, looking back on previous seasons, it's always been in the top four. And then for them to branch out and pick Hannah, I was just, it hurts.

And I just felt like, I don't know. know like I was I don't know I just have so many thoughts on the issue Kaylin do you think I just had a weird thought do you think you guys would have confronted and fixed things if it wasn't for the show no I think it would have been a thing where the friendship didn't work out and we just go our separate ways it's wild when the show can do that isn't it yeah well hey Kalin let's take one more break when we come back we're going to touch on your season of The Bachelor with Colton Underwood, your relationship with Cassie, and then close up

with, I think, a really, really fun segment talking about your relationship with Dean and your other boyfriend. Do you consider him a boyfriend, Pappy? Oh, no, he's my son. No, son, son, sorry. Son, Pappy. We'll be back with Taelin Miller-Keys. Hi, my name is Enya Yumanzoor. And I'm Drew Phillips. we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you. But if you have unmedicated ADHD... Oh my God, perfect.

And want to hear people with mental illness, psychobabble. Yes, yes. Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you. Open your free IHeartRadio app. Search Emergency Intercom and listen now. Imagine that you're on an airplane and all of a sudden you hear this. Attention passengers. The pilot is having an emergency, and we need someone, anyone to land this plane. Think you could do it? It turns out that nearly 50% of men think that they could land the plane with the help of air traffic control.

And they're saying like, okay, pull this, pull that, turn this. It's just, I can do my eyes close. I'm Manny. I'm Noah. This is Devon. And on our new show, no such thing, we get to the bottom of questions like these. Join us as we talk to the leading expert on overconfidence. Those who lack expertise lack the expertise they need to recognize that they lack expertise. And then as we try the whole thing out for real. Wait, what?

Oh, that's the runway. I'm looking at this thing. Listen to no such thing on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hola, it's HoneyGerman. And my podcast, Grasias Come Again, is back. This season we're going even deeper into the world of music and entertainment with raw and honest conversations with some of your favorite Latin artists and celebrities. You didn't have to audition?

No, I didn't audition. I haven't audition in like over 25 years. Oh, wow. That's a real G-talk right there. Oh, yeah. We've got some of the biggest actors, musicians, content creators, and culture shifters sharing their real stories of failure and success. You were destined to be a start.

We talk all. about what's viral and trending with a little bit of chisement, a lot of laughs, and those amazing vivras you've come to expect. And of course, we'll explore deeper topics dealing with identity, struggles, and all the issues affecting our Latin community. You feel like you get a little whitewash because you have to do the code switching? I won't say whitewash because at the end of the day, you know, I'm me. Yeah. But the whole pretending and code, you know, it takes a toll on you. Listen to the new season of Grasasas has come again as part of my Cultura Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast

what would you do if one bad decision forced you to choose between a maximum security prison or the most brutal boot camp designed to be hell on earth unfortunately for mark lombardo this was the choice he faced he said you are a number a new york state number and we own you Shock incarceration, also known as boot camps, are short-term, highly regimented correctional programs that mimic military basic training. These programs aim to provide a shock of prison life, emphasizing strict discipline, physical training, hard labor, and rehabilitation programs. Mark had one chance to complete this program and had no idea of the hell awaiting him the next six months. The first night was so overwhelming. and you don't know who's next to you

and we didn't know what to expect in the morning nobody tells you anything listen to shock incarceration on the iHeart radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts a foot washed up a shoe with some bones in it they had no idea who it was most everything was burned up pretty good from the fire that not a whole lot was salvageable

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the Houston Lab that takes on the most hopeless cases to finally solve the unsolvable. Listen to America's Crime Lab on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We're back with Kalyn Miller Keyes. We've talked about a lot of the things leading up to this point, but you were on The Bachelor dating a man named Colton Underwood. I guess we'll just start with a general question. Were you excited for Colton to be The Bachelor? No. And I told him that on like maybe the second or third episode. I was like, I was really hoping for Jason.

And when it wasn't him, I was like, all right, might as well still, you know, go and have fun. But I was pleasantly surprised by Colton. I just, he's not the type of person that I would like typically date. Do you, I mean, we've had a few people now do end up. from Colton's season. It feels like that's the common response that we get is we weren't excited for him to be the bachelor. We were pleasantly surprised, but he still wasn't the type of person we would date. Was that a theme in the house? Yeah. I know like some people definitely had deep connections with him and most of the girls were like sitting in their bunk beds. Like I don't really care about him.

And I was like, guys, there's cameras. Like they can pick up on this. You can't just say that. But there were a lot of girls who just weren't super invested. You definitely weren't one of those girls though i felt like you genuinely did have feelings it's just so weird it's it's so weird now looking back but in the moment yes i did i definitely had feelings um and he was just colton colton's a great guy and he was great at making everyone feel special and i i definitely did have feelings forever ago do you at what point then did it start to switch for you i mean if this would have been you at the end. What would you have done? If it was us at the end, we would not still be together. We're just too different. And him and Cassie are like a perfect match. But yeah,

it just never would have worked with us. I need someone like Dean to just mellow me out and make me not take life too seriously, not wear makeup, things like that. A guy like Dean. Well, good news. team. We're going to be talking about Dean Ungler just a little bit. Why do you think there was so much tension between the other girls in the house and then you and Cassie? There really wasn't up until like the end. But we were like friends with everyone, but we just had such a close, close friendship unlike any friendship either of us have ever had. We were just like best, best friends. And it definitely seemed weird to a lot of the girls. They're like, you can't be this close and develop feelings for a guy, the same guy. And I get that. But we were so good at

separating the two. And we just wouldn't talk about it. And that's the only way we could remain friends was just to be like, in my mind, I was like, I'm going to pretend like you guys don't have a strong relationship. I'm going to pretend like he doesn't like you because that's going to help me to be your best friend. It seemed like you and Cassie were hanging out together. in L.A. and such, before the season started airing, but while Cassie and Colton were together, was it weird seeing him with her so soon after you had feelings for him? Yeah, I remember when I found out that they were together in that same pit that I had in my stomach when Sarah won Miss USA, I had when I found out that they were together.

Because I felt, I was like, for sure it's Hannah Godwin. I know they're together. And I was like, now me and Cassie can just do our thing and like and then she I found out that it was him that Cassie was with him and I was like oh my God like what and that same thing I pushed it out I was like I can't be jealous I have to be happy for her it didn't work out for us but I hope it works out for them and that was kind of my mindset but it was weird the first time I saw him I was like I was super uncomfortable and just didn't know how to act and I think he kind of felt the same way we just wanted to be respectful of Cassie so you thought I was going to be Hannah in the end which makes me curious as to think would you think that you would have been as close with

Cassie if you thought that she was actually the one who won his heart yeah i just because the way that we processed it in our brains it was like we just both believed that the other didn't have a strong relationship and i guess i believed it so much to the point where i was like it has to be hannah i don't know it's weird to think about but i did i did subconsciously know like they had a strong relationship but she also didn't tell me the things like the small things that he did for her like she told me he took her back to his room in Thailand but she didn't tell me that he was giving her gifts like every single episode and that because she knew that would have hurt me and I would have probably known did she not think that she was the frontrunner at times she told me she didn't but yeah she didn't

for a while interesting and and then there was rumors that you you know were hanging out with colton before women tell all was taped but then at women tell all you made it seem like you weren't over him at all um in hindsight was that kind of like an emotional outburst because you thought that it would up your chances of being the bachelorette yeah okay oh i love the honesty 1,000 percent good work caylin hell yeah you're advised certain ways and i was like screw it if this is my last dance, let's try it. And, you know, I had a little birdie in my ear telling me people think you're fake. People think you weren't actually, didn't actually have feelings for him. People never really saw you a moat. So this is your chance. And I was like, all right, I'm going to go out

with a bang. And that's what I did. So just to be clear there, though, did you have feelings for him. Yeah. No, I did. I did. I did have feelings for him. And I just remember being dumped. and oh i was just like are you kidding me and now he just met my whole family and i have to go home to my family like there's no way it's over between us and i remember calling producers every day for like i don't even know five days maybe and i was like he made a mistake i'm telling you right now he made a mistake like i'm coming back and they said you know what uh lauren said the same thing when ari dumped her and they're like let's let it play out a couple days let's see what happens feels the same way. We'll let you come back. So I was determined. I was like, I know it's me.

And then, you know, the initial heartbreak, you get over it. And I was like, oh, wait, no, that was like, that's not meant to be at all. Yeah. Yeah. So you were, yeah, you were, you had the feelings, but you were definitely overt by women tell all. Oh, yeah. All the honesty is so fantastic. All right. So you and Cassie, are you still as close as you were then, now. Yeah, we are. We're still super close. It's just hard to. our schedules are so different and obviously now we're quarantined but i just just talking to her yesterday on the phone but we are so close it's hard to get back to that like level of closeness that we were on the show when there's no phones it's just you and the other person like it's just a great way to

build friendships in that environment i completely agree because there are some girls from my season that like i was thinking getting off the season those are going to be bridesmaids in my wedding one day and then those girls well they were invited to my wedding but they didn't even come you know yeah no it's tough and i don't know we still are super close and i'm super thankful for that but getting to that same closeness where there's no distractions and it's just like no phones and you just get to live your life free of any any distraction imaginable it's pretty cool recently uh colton came out with a book and he mentions you in it a lot a lot what are your thoughts I've only heard about the me and Hannah B stuff.

I haven't heard about anything else. But I think it's because you are one of the people right off the bat that he was like, okay, she's getting far. You were his first kiss. Yeah. Well, not really. Oh, not really. They made it seem like that.

Who was his first kiss then? I want to say Katie, but maybe I'm wrong. Yeah, I don't know. But I get why I'm in the book. I don't know. I just hate reliving the Bachelor because I don't know. I was 23 going on the show. I didn't know who I was.

I was so insecure. I was just a very different version of myself. So it's hard for me to look back at that time and remember fond memories. Well, I feel like a lot of girls said that about you. A lot of them noticed that you grew and matured a lot between the break between Paradise and the Bachelor. what do you think happened then i think i just woke up and i shook off this pageantry side of me and i was like this is so fake this is not me and i just need to be myself like no one wants this perfectly prim let's you know speak on both sides person like just i was like i'm just going to be myself and if that

works that works all right so now we're in paradise and you had some drama with blake that we're not even going to bother with right now, but I want to know the feeling that you had when Dean walked down those stairs, was it love at first sight? Because I'd say for most women, it is. For me, it was. Yeah. I know. I was like, for most men and women, I should say, actually. So, Dean and I actually met in March maybe. Yeah, right? The season finale of my season airing is the day that we met and it was at um like through a mutual friend it was like super brief like hey hey like how are you how are you and i remember walking out and being like one he is so tall and two his eyes are so blue he's so handsome and so when he came down to the beach i was like just reminded

of how attractive he is and i remember talking to him and i was just like i was a mess that day you start drinking so early and the heat and you have like two drinks and it's just too much so I was a mess and I remember thinking like there's no way he's going to take me on this date like I just acted like a freaking lunatic and then he asks me and I was like oh my gosh and I was so excited to go on the date with him but I remember the whole time we were on the date I was like I remember even asking producers I was like is this a friend thing or are we on a date like I have no idea and so we're talking going through the date I'm starting to like him more and more and then we jump into the pool and the producers like kiss him kiss him and then I like spin us because he's holding me in the water and the producers like kiss her kiss her and we're both like spinning each other because no one wants to make the first move and then finally he did and I was like okay it's not a friend thing what and like what a magical moment that was watching it because to see Dean really pursue I mean anybody publicly still feels a little weird for me to

be honest because I just know him privately and I'm like I don't think this comes naturally to him. I think he likes a lot of this stuff private, but he obviously felt something with you. We got to see your story play out. Obviously, Dean leaves and comes back. So I'll ask you the same question. What was it like to see him show up the second time? I was so happy. And I wanted to like be the cool girl. And he tried to hold my hand. And I was like, nope, you have to work for it. Like, you left me on my birthday. Absolutely not. And so, but I was so, but I was so, happy. I remember waking up the next day after he dumped me. And I was just, you know, when you wake up and you're like, oh my gosh, like, I still thought we were together. Like, I don't know. I just, the whole day, I was looking around for him on the beach and I was so, I just wanted to see him. And at the wedding, this didn't get showed, but I was like, frying the entire time. Yeah. Yeah, that was the part I was going to bring up. You guys both saw me. Yeah. That was the part I was going to bring up. I was like, Dean, you idiot. Like, so Dean goes down. So here's a little back story here. So Dean goes down to Paradise. saying telling all of his friends definitely was not going to get into a relationship

yeah that he was just going down there to have a good time and and he didn't want to get into trouble again right he just didn't want to have a bad storyline and so i remember my very last conversation with him probably very soon before he left was like just don't do something stupid like just don't be stupid dine okay flash forwarded into the wedding and obviously we're talking about chris um in crystal's wedding and we all are there for all of us here that are on this on this podcast. And I show up and I'm like, I'm so pumped to see Dean and I see you. They're sad and crying. And I'm like, what happened? And I asked somebody and they tell me yesterday, the day before the wedding, right? Her birthday. Your birthday. Dean had broken up with you. And my first response was

Dean. Oh, you idiot. And I saw Kaylin sitting over there and I was just like, okay, she looks like as heartbroken as I was in paradise with Jared. So I was like, I can tell like genuine heartbreak sadness when I see it. So I go over to her and I'm like, Kaelin, I feel so bad for you. I'm feeling so much empathy. I go, but like I love Dean. He's like one of the most sparkling creatures I've ever met inside and out. But that man is not ready for a relationship and he'll tell anyone that. and here we are here we are a year later and you guys are still together which is magical it is so crazy oh that was a brutal day for me i was just i remember being pulled out of my interview because i was crying too hard and of course it doesn't get showed it makes it look like

oh connor like i'm so into connor but i was like i had to take hannah godwin's makeup bag and like from her and pull out something that dylan had in his pocket of her makeup just to like I mean, I was, Tia and Becca Kufrin saw me in the bathroom, just a mess, like, ugly, ugly crying. They're like, Connor wants to talk to you. And I was like, what? And so, I don't know. It's just a terrible day for me. But even, even though you were like saying you're interested in talking to Connor, I was like, Connor will always be her second place. Honestly. And I tried to fill that void that I was missing with Dean with Connor. And then Dean came back and I was like, thank goodness. I was so happy. Yeah. I can't think

of anything. It's almost funny. I'm sorry for laughing, but it's almost funny to think that you get broken up with by a man you love. Obviously, we know that now. And then you have to show up to a wedding with all of his friends the next day. Like, how brutal is that? Oh, it was not fun. It was one of the worst days, honestly. And we can laugh about it now, obviously, because you two are together. Yes. And you're happy. We are very happy. We are quarantine together. other. And sometimes we get on each other's nerves, but for the most part, we get along great. We just like have our separate bedrooms. Can we clarify why he even broke up with you in the first place in paradise? Was it truly because like his mentality going in was don't get in a

relationship? And then he was like, oh, got to stick to the original mentality. Yes, because I pulled him aside and I was like, what is this? And he was like, I told you like, I'm not. He's like, I got, I have a music festival to get to in a week. And I was like, Dean, this goes on for two and a half more weeks. And he's like, yeah, I got to, I'm going to head out of here soon. Like, he was determined just to not leave in a relationship. How are you so forgiving? Like, I, and I say this because, like, Dean is one of my favorite people in the world.

I consider him one of my best friends. I love him dearly. But I, like, I also, like, Dean's the type of person. You just, like, want to, like, shake him most of the time. How are you so forgiving? there is just something that I have never felt with anyone that I feel with Dean and it's like of course they'll take you back like the second he came down it may have looked like there was some contemplating going on but I was like oh my gosh like my heart is with you for sure oh yeah

we knew you were trying to be a cool cool girl you're like going to try to pretend like you were going to take him back but you had to give him a couple minutes of being nervous but there is some quality that I feel like all of us here can agree on that Dean is just like he has something where if he looks at you and smiles you cannot deny him yes it is ridiculous you're about to come in here don't let him come in here i don't want him to hear this he doesn't need to hear us raving about him yeah yeah i'd prefer he never hears me say anything good about him yeah all right so you guys are together now you've been together for almost a year you've pretty much lived together because you know dean's a nomad

and when he's not on an adventure pretty much always with you he's at your apartment which is kind of shared with both of you but you have been really secretive about certain big milestones in your relationship like i remember asking dean like have you guys said i love you and stuff and he's like i don't know like yeah no yeah no and so can you tell us like have you guys said i love you and one was the moment i was thinking about that today i was like am can are we saying that But yeah, whatever. Yes, I love him a whole lot. I told him, gosh, I don't even know. Maybe when we were in St. Lucia, it was the first time I told him. So you told him first? Yeah. Definitely something like definitely something you'd have to do, I feel like. Yeah. Oh, for sure. There's no way he's doing it first. And he said it back? Not immediately. Not for a while.

I guess I should say. I want to know about Pappy. So we talked about Pappy at the beginning. I've been able to meet Pappy. Ashley's met Pappy. Kaelin, you're not a mom. What does Pappy mean to you? Okay, I feel like a crazy dog mom.

And when people post their dog all the time and how much they love them, I've never understood because I've never had a dog my own. but I just didn't know that I could love something this much. Like, I love him more and more every single day. He's just my son. And I don't know, when he looks up at me and just stares at me. He's doing it now. That's why we're, he's doing it right now as we talk.

He is. Kaelin, I understand so much because, like, I don't understand being like a person mom yet, like a baby mom. So when people post about their baby, I'm like, that's great. but like how could it be better than my dog like truly i'm like i don't think it could get better like can i love something and think something is cuter than my dog seriously and dean and i our whole camera roll we take like a hundred photos of him a day and like a hundred videos anytime we like sticks his tongue out we're like come here come here come here come here you got to see

this like we are very obsessed with him he's a beautiful dog it's a beautiful story Caitlin, last question about Pappy. There was a, you know, I don't know, a couple months ago, you and Dean were deciding on keeping Pappy or not. Was it ever a question in your mind if you were going to continue to allow Pappy to be a part of your family? Yes. So I left for Bali for like a week and a half and Dean was obviously with Pappy the whole time. And Pappy's behavior changed drastically and he became much more misbehaved. And so I was like, I just don't know if we can keep this dog. He was like peeing everywhere.

He was barking and he never barked before. And I was like, you know, we were traveling and in hotels, we were about to get kicked out because he was barking so much. And so that was the only time. But then once I started parenting him again, he started behaving more. But being in quarantine, like, I can't imagine not having him. Yeah. Dean is a parent. He's going to be a great dad.

He is. Oh, he's going to be such a good dad. But I know. no but i i i love see sorry yeah i just no no i think yeah please tell us if you think dean is gonna be a good dad yeah no he is i feel like i just made him sound like a bad dog dad but he is like the best dog dad he loves papy so much and he's great to him okay well caylin uh that's the hard part uh you've made it through the gauntlet of questions we appreciate your uh vulnerability um i've appreciated hearing your stories i've learned a lot about pageants and um and also just your strength and uh and so

now it's off to ashley for her famous rapid fire round all right what's your favorite adventure you've been on with dean oh guatemala hiking a volcano okay why is that just because it was hiking a volcano yeah it was so cool it was we hiked um we slept on a volcano which was dormant and then we hiked an active volcano and it was just the most incredible incredible thing to see interrupting at night. And I definitely complained a lot. And Dean and I got into an argument about my complaining, but looking back, I'm like, this happens often where I like fight him on the things that he tries to push me on. And then I look back and I'm like, that was the best experience in my life. How were you able to adapt to this kind of adventure with him? Because

it's extreme. You know, you're not just going on a hike of Running Canyon, which is honestly pretty extreme for me. That's like a real cardiovascular intense workout. And then, And you are like going all over the place, like sleeping in tents when I'm like a hotel snob. So like please educate us. I think it's just like loving someone and loving the things that they're passionate about and growing with them. And he actually just told me right before we started this that he bought me some rock climbing shoes. So he's going to teach me how to rock climb soon, which will be interesting. But I don't know. I think it just comes with loving the things that they love because they love it and you love them wow you're special okay so what has been

something that you have taught him to love that he wouldn't have loved before yeah like because if you he taught you how to love adventure in the outdoors then what's the vice versa of that uh maybe first class in an airplane probably what is your plane necessity on all these long travels oh i have to have CBD oil because i get such bad anxiety with turbulence so it just kind of helps me like relax and not clench the armrest the whole time dean does a lot of projects around the house whether that's like making you furniture or working on the car what's the most impressive thing he's done like hardware like manual labor thank you i was going to say that he has to go to the hardware store for i love our benches that he built but i think the fact that he did his van himself

like now you can have people you know scrap your van like the interior and make it all new but he did it all himself and it's i think it's pretty cool that he did that what is your favorite food to deliver that you always agree is a good idea. Pizza. Have you spoken about children? No, but weirdly, my Google Popp picks articles that they think will be of interest in me, and it said, ding, uncle it talks about kids with Keelan,

and so I read it. And apparently he's opening up to it, so that's good. Are you? you surprised that you guys have lasted as long as you have since bachelor nation is so surprised at first i was like treating this relationship like it was it sounds really bad but i like it was going to end and the way that i was like preparing my heart because i couldn't deal with that heartbreak again so i was like you know he's probably going to get tired of me soon um but then like the more we got to know each other the more we traveled together i was like oh like this is actually

something. And finally, what is the most annoying thing that he's been doing during quarantine? And what does he think the most annoying thing that you've been doing during quarantine is? His for sure is call of duty. I hate that game. But also, I like, we had a conversation about it and I was like, I can't really be mad at you because what is there to do in quarantine? And if it's something that makes you happy, fine, do it and play it. And I, and I, The annoying thing that I do in quarantine is just nag him about Colo Goody. Amazing. All right, Kaelin, this was a long haul.

Yeah, you did it. You've been talking to us for an hour and a half. Can we get three more minutes for me, though? Yeah. So we always liked to end it this way because you're obviously one of Bachelor Nation's favorite. You have an incredible story to tell. You shared it with us today.

There's a lot of people out there listening to this that are big fans. of you and we're fans of the listeners. Kalyn, if I gave you the platform, which I'm going to give you now the stage, what would you say to anybody listening who has supported you, loved you, cared about you along the way? I would just say thank you so much.

I get DMs and people are like, I see you, I see your heart, I've watched you evolve, I've watched you change. And thank you for sticking by my side as I am in my early 20s and just learning about myself during this time. So thank you for being supportive. Thank you for sharing your stories.

you know, different things that you've been through. I'm very appreciative. So sweet. Yeah, you're awesome. Kalyn Miller Keys. Thanks for joining Ashley and I on the Almost Famous In-Depth podcast. Now, follow along. I will start. Ashley, you obviously know what to do. And then, Caitlin, join on in. Hey, guys, this has been another episode of the Almost Famous In-Depth podcast. Today, we had a really special guest, somebody that we care about dearly, Kaelin Miller Keyes with us. But, hey, if you can go to wherever you listen to podcasts and rate us, review us, we love to hear from you.

Hey, we'll talk to you next time. I've been Ben. I've been Ashley. And I've been Kalen. Bye, guys. Later. Follow the Ben and Ashley I, almost famous podcasts on IHartRadio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Hi, my name is Enya Yumanzoor.

And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you. But if you have unmedicated ADHD... Oh my God, perfect. And want to hear people with mental illness, psychobabble. Yes, yes. Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you.

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