“We can’t wait to take you along on this journey — through all the ups, downs, and everything in between,” the bride-to-be said
Baylen Dupree is engaged!
The 22-year-old social media star, who has Tourette syndrome, announced her engagement to her boyfriend of more than two years, Colin Dooley via Instagram on Tuesday, Feb. 11.
“Does this ring make me look engaged? We’re thrilled to share that we’re officially engaged!” Dupree tells PEOPLE exclusively. “We can’t wait to take you along on this journey — through all the ups, downs, and everything in between. But one thing’s for sure, we’re beyond excited for this next chapter of our lives!”
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Details of the proposal are being kept under wraps for now and will later play out in Dupree’s new TLC reality series Baylen Out Loud, which premiered on Jan. 13 and concludes on March 10. The show follows Dupree and her family as they navigate her life with Tourette’s.
The TikToker was diagnosed with Tourette syndrome in 2020 and decided to use her platform to raise awareness and shut down misconceptions about the disorder. She has accumulated more than 10 million followers on TikTok and 1.5 million followers on Instagram.
Two years after her diagnosis, she began dating Dooley in November 2022 after connecting on a dating app. Since then, he has been by Dupree’s side through her journey with Tourette syndrome.
Ahead of her show’s premiere, Dupree gushed over Dooley’s unwavering love and support, describing him to PEOPLE as her “medicine.”
“He is the prescription that I’ve needed for a really long time that never runs out. It was just meant to be. He just understands me so well,” she said. “He distracts me from a lot of the things that consume my day and my time … It just really helps just having someone there who gets it and understands me.”
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She noted at the time that her fiancé, who is a member of the United States Air Force, had never met anyone with her condition before but was “very observant” and researched more about it after their first date.
“He still is [learning], but I mean, so is everyone else. I am still learning about it. My parents are still learning about it,” Dupree said. “There’s so much more work that needs to be done to educate more people and to understand fully what people are going through and dealing with.”
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“But I hate when people are like, ‘He’s so patient with you,’ ” she continued. “I’m like, people have to be patient with everybody. My dad’s got to be patient with my mom, and my mom’s got to be patient with my dad, and neither one of them [has] Tourette.”
The bride-to-be also opened up to PEOPLE about wanting to have children with Dooley in the future, even if their kids inherit her disorder. She’s confident in her ability to guide them through anything.
“It was definitely hard for me to go through and think, Do I want kids because of my condition? I struggled a lot with that internally,” she explained. “Then I think, ‘What better person, if my kid has Tourette, to take care of [them] than me?’ I will know. Me and Colin will know. We’re living it. We know.”
“I just see myself with a family [and] an animal farm, hopefully,” Dupree added of her future aspirations. “Just being with Colin and having my own family.”
