Everything Bachelorette’s Katie Thurston Has Said About Healing After John Hersey Split: ‘Dating Myself’

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Everything Bachelorette's Katie Thurston Has Said About Healing After John Hersey Split: 'Dating Myself'

One day at a time. Katie Thurston is keeping her head held high after splitting from John Hersey. The former Bachelorette and the bartender dated for less than one year before Thurston shared a cryptic message about their relationship status. "Statement: No, we aren't together," she wrote via her Instagram Story on June 20. Hersey went on to address their breakup in a lengthier note to fans. "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. As Katie stated earlier, we are no longer dating," he explained. "This decision was not made lightly, and it was obviously not an easy one to make." He added on June 21: "I appreciate every one of you that has supported us throughout this journey. We could not (and would not) be here without you." [jwplayer n4fzNCEB-zhNYySv2] The twosome met while filming season 17 of The Bachelorette, but Hersey didn't last long on the show. Thurston sent him packing during the second week, ending her journey engaged to Blake Moynes. The pair called it quits in October 2021, nearly three months after the finale aired. Fans were taken by surprise in November 2021 when Thurston revealed she was dating Hersey during her "12 Days of Messy" challenge inspired by Taylor Swift's new version of Red. Moynes later claimed he wasn't aware of the relationship before the duo went public. "On Day 12, people were like, 'Do you think it's going to be John?' And I was like, 'No, it's going to be about herself and [how] she reinvented and found herself in this [process],'" the wildlife manager said on an episode of the "Talking It Out With Bachelor Nation" podcast. "So when that dropped ... I had to pull over because my phone was going nuts. I pulled over in a Best Buy parking lot and everyone was ringing me, they were like, 'There's no f–king way.'" The Canada native admitted he was "shocked" by the reveal. "I just thought that she might at least tell me on the side," he continued. "Just because we have had very cordial, easy conversations [since the breakup]. We haven’t had one in a while ... but, you know, they've been very cordial and very good. So why not reach out to me and tell me that, at least, to give me a heads up?" Moynes went on to accuse his ex-fiancée of "emotional" cheating before they called off their engagement. "I feel stupid and foolish for allowing it to happen, to some degree," he said, referring to Thurston and Hersey's strong friendship. "I don't know if it was partially me too, like, was she emotionally cheating to some degree because I wasn't able to provide something with words of affirmation, which I know I struggle with sometimes." Though theirs wasn't a forever romance, Hersey made it clear that he still values the season 25 Bachelor alum's friendship. "I have never been so supported or unconditionally loved by a partner. Assuming and implying that Katie is doing anything wrong does not sit right with me," he fired back at an Instagram troll on June 21 as the user claimed Thurston couldn't keep a partner following multiple public breakups. "The internet can be a mean place — let's not add to it." Scroll down for Thurston's quotes about her split from Hersey: [podcast_block]

Credit: Image Press Agency/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

Everything Bachelorette's Katie Thurston Has Said About Healing After John Hersey Split: 'Dating Myself'

One day at a time. Katie Thurston is keeping her head held high after splitting from John Hersey. The former Bachelorette and the bartender dated for less than one year before Thurston shared a cryptic message about their relationship status. "Statement: No, we aren't together," she wrote via her Instagram Story on June 20. Hersey went on to address their breakup in a lengthier note to fans. "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. As Katie stated earlier, we are no longer dating," he explained. "This decision was not made lightly, and it was obviously not an easy one to make." He added on June 21: "I appreciate every one of you that has supported us throughout this journey. We could not (and would not) be here without you." [jwplayer n4fzNCEB-zhNYySv2] The twosome met while filming season 17 of The Bachelorette, but Hersey didn't last long on the show. Thurston sent him packing during the second week, ending her journey engaged to Blake Moynes. The pair called it quits in October 2021, nearly three months after the finale aired. Fans were taken by surprise in November 2021 when Thurston revealed she was dating Hersey during her "12 Days of Messy" challenge inspired by Taylor Swift's new version of Red. Moynes later claimed he wasn't aware of the relationship before the duo went public. "On Day 12, people were like, 'Do you think it's going to be John?' And I was like, 'No, it's going to be about herself and [how] she reinvented and found herself in this [process],'" the wildlife manager said on an episode of the "Talking It Out With Bachelor Nation" podcast. "So when that dropped ... I had to pull over because my phone was going nuts. I pulled over in a Best Buy parking lot and everyone was ringing me, they were like, 'There's no f–king way.'" The Canada native admitted he was "shocked" by the reveal. "I just thought that she might at least tell me on the side," he continued. "Just because we have had very cordial, easy conversations [since the breakup]. We haven’t had one in a while ... but, you know, they've been very cordial and very good. So why not reach out to me and tell me that, at least, to give me a heads up?" Moynes went on to accuse his ex-fiancée of "emotional" cheating before they called off their engagement. "I feel stupid and foolish for allowing it to happen, to some degree," he said, referring to Thurston and Hersey's strong friendship. "I don't know if it was partially me too, like, was she emotionally cheating to some degree because I wasn't able to provide something with words of affirmation, which I know I struggle with sometimes." Though theirs wasn't a forever romance, Hersey made it clear that he still values the season 25 Bachelor alum's friendship. "I have never been so supported or unconditionally loved by a partner. Assuming and implying that Katie is doing anything wrong does not sit right with me," he fired back at an Instagram troll on June 21 as the user claimed Thurston couldn't keep a partner following multiple public breakups. "The internet can be a mean place — let's not add to it." Scroll down for Thurston's quotes about her split from Hersey: [podcast_block]

Credit: Courtesy of Katie Thurston/Instagram

Off the Grid

Shortly before confirming her breakup, Thurston spent 30 days without using social media "to really focus on my friends, my family, but most importantly, myself," she explained via Instagram on June 9. "I enjoyed my break but I’d be kidding myself if I didn't also miss you all!" 

Credit: Courtesy of Katie Thurston/Instagram

Summer Love

"I dedicate this summer to myself ☀️," the Washington native captioned an Instagram video with BFF Tammy Ly from a day out at a carnival — which Hersey attended with them.

Credit: Courtesy of Katie Thurston/Instagram

Dating Herself

"Day 1 of turning this 'Adventures for Couples' book into my inspo for dating myself," Thurston wrote via her Instagram Story on June 27. "My Love Language is Words of Affirmation. So I grabbed some dinner and some wine, and a journal, and headed to the beach."

The former reality star told fans she wrote herself a "love letter," adding in a subsequent post, "Sunsets are proof that endings can be beautiful."

Credit: Courtesy of Katie Thurston/Instagram

Finding 'Closure'

During a social media Q&A, Thurston shed light on what went wrong. "This is a simple yet complicated breakup given that we were best friends before dating," she explained on June 29. "We are on good terms so just finding a healthy balance of space in order for closure. At the end of the day, you just want the person you love to be happy and you support whatever path they want to take to find that." 

Credit: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

On the Moment They Split

“I think [our breakup] was just unavoidable," Thurston said during an August 2022 appearance on Kaitlyn Bristowe's "Off the Vine" podcast, when asked about what caused the breakup. "Like, we just got [into] a conversation and at one point, I just said to him, … ‘I know more reasons why you don’t like me than why you love me.' And that’s a really s—ty feeling."

She added that Hersey felt like she wasn't supportive enough of his passions. "He said, ’I just really need someone who can enjoy my passions and who wants to watch surf, maybe learn surfing with me,” she continued. “I look at him and I go, ‘You realize I jumped out of a f—king plane three times' … to join him in his passions. Eight hours of ground school, all these things to partake in ‘his passion’ and somehow that was completely ignored and now we’re focused on surfing. At that point, I knew nothing I did was going to ever be good enough."

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin

On Losing Herself in the Relationship

“I think I was just a little bit, maybe, in denial at first. It was such a big deal to date him so quickly after ending my engagement with Blake," she told Bristowe. "So already there was, like, a lot of public opinions about that situation. But I was like, ‘He’s worth it.’ ... It just really caught me off guard and I just really put, like, all my eggs in one basket with this man, and 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."

Thurston later explained, "I bought this man a frickin’ travel van. 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. But it is a little, like, offensive to be like, ‘Damn, I gave you everything,’ and you're still being like, ‘This isn’t working out.’”

Credit: Courtesy of Katie Thurston/Instagram

On Being Heartbroken in the Public Eye

“Sorry, John, you're not gonna like my opinions, but I think being on TV and gaining a platform does change some people. 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,” she said. "I was literally, like, cornered into a wall to essentially come out quicker than I wanted to about it. So I said ‘Fine.’”