While Katie Thurston did not find lasting love on FBoy Island season 3, she might have found a special connection after the cameras cut.
Thurston, 32, fielded questions from social media users via Instagram Story on Thursday, January 18, with one asking for advice about navigating a new relationship.
“Take things slow those first three months,” Thurston wrote, sharing a video of herself holding onto a mystery man’s hand while lounging on a couch. She set her post to Kasbo and Chelsea Cutler’s duet, “Found You.”
Thurston last dated Vince Xu after meeting on FBoy Island.
“I just wanted to let you know that I definitely found love. And I love you, Vince,” she gushed during the December 2023 season 3 finale before learning that she and Xu, 31, would split the $100,000 prize since he was a self-proclaimed “nice guy.”
“I just wanted to let you know that I definitely found love. And I love you, Vince,” she gushed during the December 2023 season 3 finale before learning that she and Xu, 31, would split the $100,000 prize since he was a self-proclaimed nice guy.
After the episode aired, Thurston took to Instagram to comment on her final decision to choose Xu over runner-up Benedict Polizzi.
“To @vincexu — I’m thankful our paths continued to cross and that you are now part of a chapter I’ll never forget,” she wrote via Instagram on Friday night, sharing several selfies of the pair. “Glad we finally experienced those bottomless mimosas we dreamt about while on the island. 🥂.”
However, hours later, Thurston confirmed they were no longer dating.
“That’s what everyone wants to know,” she quipped in an Instagram Story Q&A about whether or not she was in a relationship.“No. That being said, if I’m ever asked to go on reality TV to date again, please just cancel me. Three times and [it] doesn’t work out? Maybe reality TV isn’t where your husband is, just a thought.”
Thurston’s reality TV career began in 2021 when she appeared on Matt James’ season of The Bachelor. After James, now 32, sent her home, she was named the next Bachelorette. During her tenure on The Bachelorette season 17, Thurston got engaged to Blake Moynes but they split three months after the season finale aired in October 2021. She moved on with John Hersey, who she eliminated during the second week of her season, before they ultimately split after less than one year together. FBoy Island was her first time dating since the breakup.
“There were so many different [reasons I signed up for this],” she exclusively told Us Weekly in October 2023. “I watched season 2 when I was invited and said, ‘OK, well let’s see what this show’s about.’ And watching it, it was so hilarious — satirical, almost — that it was just such a different experience from my Bachelor experience and I was looking for something a little more lighthearted.”
She added at the time: “Yeah, there’s a chance I fall in love, there’s a chance I win money, there’s a chance I make new girlfriends. It was just a win-win-win all the way around.”
