Dan Swygart Spills The Tea On His Relationship With 'I Am Shauna Rae' Star
By Melanie VanDerveer on April 11, 2023 at 10:30 PM EDT
There's finally some closure for fans of "I Am Shauna Rae" who feel like they have been left hanging as far as Shauna Rae's relationship with love interest Dan Swygart.
Swygart recently opened up about their relationship and all that's happened between them during an episode of "The Sarah Fraser Show" podcast.
Dan Swygart Spills The Tea On His Relationship Status With Shauna Rae
Those who were following along on the two reality stars' friendship, I never ended up taking it to the next level.
Swygart, 27, a successful entrepreneur from Wales, met the TLC reality show star, 23, online, and their connection was prevalent in season 2 of the show. While they spoke often, they didn't spend much time together in person. Some people thought the relationship was all for the show, but Swygart said there was an "emotionally strong connection."
"We got very, very close on an emotional level. I mean, it never really got physical. We kissed once. Of course, I wasn't there for long periods," he said.
"So, it never really progressed into a relationship. I guess it got to that point where it could have been done, and then we both decided it wasn't the right timing for us, so we didn't go into a relationship."
The two spoke online and on the phone for about eight months after he sent her flowers and a note telling her to "go live her best life" before he was even on the show. About four months after the two started talking, they met for the first time in person in Long Island, New York, where Shauna lives with her family. It was months later that he ended up on the show.
While Shauna's courage attracted Swygart to her, he said it was her ambition that kept their connection growing. Swygart made it clear that her personality, not her size, drew him to her.
"I saw her for who she was as a 23-year-old woman, and I acknowledged that she has a disability, she has dwarfism, but it's something which I accepted in her, and I knew she was different in that way," he said. "I looked past that and built it with who she is as an individual."
Dan Swygart Dealt With A Lot Of Hate Over The Relationship
Swygart also discussed the amount of hate that he had to deal with because of his relationship with Shauna, simply because she's only 3'11, and many view her as being stuck in the body of an 8-year-old.
"With that just came to this huge amount of hate, and I felt like the world was crushing me because the media and people, YouTubers as well, categorized me as the most hated group of people on the planet," he said.
"Obviously, because of Shauna's condition, they put me in that category. I just felt like that world was crushing me."
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After sharing Instagram videos discussing the negative comments people have left about Shauna's physical appearance, he was grateful for all the support he received.
"I lost my faith in humanity, did these videos, and then a huge amount of love and support came, and I'm so thankful for the world," he said.
"Because that's the lowest I've ever been in my life; with the world crushing me like that, the world sort of saved me. I had a huge amount of support. They started attacking all the negative comments, and people started deleting the negative comments, and, yeah, the rainy clouds disappeared, and the sun started shining, and now it's all fine."