Breaking his silence. After Katie Thurston revealed that she blocked Nick Viall, the former Bachelor and girlfriend Natalie Joy questioned her intentions.
During a new episode of “The Viall Files” podcast, which was released on Monday, July 11, the couple called out Thurston’s decision to namedrop her contestants after her season wrapped last summer.
“I hear so much [while hosting ‘The Viall Files’] about everyone. There is so much that I know, which is part of why I have this rule. If people want to put stuff out there for us to respond to [then] fine. But I don’t want to be airing people’s laundry that I hear or how they treated other people,” Viall, 41, explained, referring to the former Bachelorette’s occasional Instagram Q&As.
He continued: “I have heard some horror stories about my peers, but I don’t want to put it all out there. It is almost as if [Katie] feels like she has this ownership over these guys from her season.”
Joy, 24, for her part, pointed out that she had “such an issue” with the recent comments Thurston, 31, made about Viall.
“It really got me when I get tagged in a cute little TikTok reel on Instagram of Ms. Katie Thurston speaking about Nick. I watch it and I was just very confused because [it starts off] with someone asking, ‘Why does Nick Viall hate you?’ And she says, ‘Nick Viall is blocked from my phone.’ Like she has some sort of reason to block Nick,” the model shared. “I know for a fact that Nick has only ever tried to help her and give her advice. Which she has never taken.”
The Maryland native, who went public with Viall in January 2021, claimed Thurston was “trying to protect herself” from texting the podcast host. “I think she is platforming a lie, and I think we need to show the truth,” Joy said before asking her boyfriend to read his last text message from the former bank marketing manager.
Viall recalled having a discussion with Thurston about her season while it was still airing.
“The whole conversation started because I tweeted something about an upcoming episode of hers, and she texted me, ‘Best TV? Boo.’ Then I gave my quick thoughts on the episode,” he said. “But the text that Natalie is referring to was, ‘Ultimately my opinion on Greg doesn’t matter. I knew before he left he wasn’t The One. It was hard watching it back and always giving him validation, only for him to leave the way he did. But I knew even then that there was zero chance him and I would have worked in the real world.'”
After his girlfriend read the text from Thurston, Viall added, “Then I wrote, ‘It is good that you have clarity. As long as you are happy, that is what matters.”
The pair’s response comes after Thurston made headlines for joking that she “forget[s]” about Viall’s existence. “Does Nick Viall not like you? Nick Viall is blocked from my phone. There’s some tea for you,” she told fans during a TikTok Live Q&A session on Sunday, July 10. “I don’t know, Nick is just — I don’t know what to say about him, to be honest.”
She continued: “I get DMs sometimes that are like, ‘Oh, my God, Nick won’t stop talking s–t about you. I messaged him one time and I was like, ‘Hey, just so you know, people are finding the things you’re saying [about me] kind of odd.’ And in short, he basically [turned it around on me]. He was like, ‘How great that you have fans that care about you! Don’t take it personally!’ Whatever. You do you, Nick. I’ll see you at the top.”
Thurston originally rose to stardom after leading season 17 of The Bachelorette. Following a complicated connection with contestant Greg Grippo, the Washington native walked away engaged to Blake Moynes. They called it quits in October 2021, nearly three months after the finale aired.
One month later, Thurston revealed that she reconnected with John Hersey after sending him home early on in her season. The duo dated for less than one year before parting ways in June.
