The Bachelorette alum Katie Thurston has slammed her ex-boyfriend John Hersey and admitted "friends" is a strong word to describe their relationship right now.
|
ADVERTISEMENT
|
"But then, you know, like, the more time we're apart, the more those things that were cute and quirky and fun, the more [you're like], 'You're annoying the f-ck out of me.'"
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
Katie and John -- a San-Diego based bartender who was eliminated during Week 2 of Katie's The Bachelorette season -- went Instagram official in November 2021, and then Katie announced in late June that the couple had called it quits on their relationship.
Katie simply wrote on Instagram Stories at the time, "Statement: no we aren't together," and declined to provide any details or specifics.
And then less than a week later, Katie and John visited the San Diego County Fair with mutual friends.
However, Katie revealed to Kaitlyn that John was the one who dumped her and his explanation for the breakup still, to this day, doesn't make much sense to her.
"He would love to stay friends," Katie noted. "Ahh, friends is a strong word, I think, that I would use for him at this time. But we're on good terms... We're okay. We're good enough."
Katie got engaged to Blake Moynes, a Canadian wildlife manager, at the end of The Bachelorette's seventeenth season, which filmed in April 2021 and aired in August last year.
Katie and John, who had been her best friend for months, went public with their romance only three short weeks after Katie and Blake announced in late October they had split and decided to end their engagement.
Katie faced backlash for having moved on from her former fiance too quickly with a "rebound," but both Katie and John denied any wrongdoing in the press, and Katie insisted she had never emotionally or physically cheated on Blake.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOWJohn even posted a long Reddit message to fans at the time defending his romance with Katie and how they both had the best of intentions and only got together, romantically, once Katie and Blake's relationship was over.
"Sorry, John, you're not gonna like my opinions, but I think being on TV and gaining a platform does change some people," Katie admitted, claiming that John really cared about what other people thought of them during the course of their relationship.
"And I was very frustrated with how our breakup was handled after the fact because I do think he cares what these strangers think about him and us."
"It was a little frustrating for me because I'm like, 'Who f-cking cares what they think or how they're interpreting this?!'" she added.
Katie recalled how she released a brief statement in June saying she and John were no longer together, and then John followed that up with a longer post of his own on Instagram.
"I love being able to share special moments with you all -- the funny ones. The happy ones. The outrageous, embarrassing, and heartfelt ones. But I don't know if it will ever get easier to share the sad ones," John announced at the time.
"As Katie stated earlier, we are no longer dating. This decision was not made lightly, and it was obviously not an easy one to make. I appreciate every one of you that has supported us throughout this journey. We could not (and would not) be here without you."
Katie confessed that she was "so annoyed" John wanted to "cater to the public" and release statements about their split earlier this summer.
ADVERTISEMENT
"I was literally, like, cornered into a wall to essentially come out quicker than I wanted to about it. So I said, 'Fine.' I wrote that sentence, I sent it to him, and I was like, 'Rip the Band-Aid off, I don't even frickin' care anymore. I'm so done,'" Katie explained.
Katie said what really pissed her off is that John accused her of not wanting to participate in or embrace his passions, such as surfing and finding adventures.
"I look at him and I go, 'You realize I jumped out of a f-cking plane three times [and] twice solo, skydiving,'" Katie complained, adding, "At that point, I knew nothing I did was ever going to be good enough."
Katie also lamented to Kaitlyn -- who starred on The Bachelorette's eleventh season and co-hosted Katie's edition alongside Tayshia Adams -- that she had bought John a travel van so they could have road trips together.
"I let this man quit his job. I was like, 'Whatever you need me to be, I will be' -- which, in hindsight, that's not healthy, that's not good," Katie said, acknowledging she had lost herself in the relationship.
"But it is a little, like, offensive to be like, 'Damn, like, I gave you everything,' and you're still being like, 'This isn't working out.'"
Katie said John is paying her back for the van and she offers to watch his dog Dexter but the whole situation still hurts.
"I don't want to say I regret it because I think every relationship is a lesson, but it was just six months crash and burn," Katie noted.
Katie said she's now in the process of moving out of the San Diego apartment she had let John move into, when they lived together for several months.
After all, Katie said the apartment has "bad vibes" and brings "bad luck" because John initially helped her pick out the apartment for her and Blake to live in after the former couple got engaged.
"There's too many memories. Blake's been there. John's been there. I'm so done with this apartment. Get me out!" joked Katie, who plans to stay in San Diego but find a new apartment.
Katie confirmed that she's now single and dating but not looking for a serious relationship.
ADVERTISEMENT
Prior to starring on The Bachelorette, Katie competed on Matt James' season of The Bachelor.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
Interested in more The Bachelor news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
