Blake Moynes Accuses Katie Thurston of Emotional Cheating As She Moves On With John Hersey: ‘I Feel Stupid and Foolish’

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin (2); Earl Gibson III/Shutterstock

Blake Moynes Accuses Katie Thurston of Emotional Cheating As She Moves On With John Hersey: 'I Feel Stupid and Foolish’

Coming to terms with it. After Us Weekly broke the news of Katie Thurston's new romance with Bachelor Nation's John Hersey, her ex-fiancé, Blake Moynes, revealed whether he saw the relationship coming. "I really don't think there was any physical cheating there, but there [was] clearly emotional [cheating] for it to transition as quickly as it did. I feel stupid and foolish for allowing it to happen, to some degree," Moynes, 31, revealed during an episode of the "Talking It Out With Bachelor Nation" podcast on Wednesday, November 24. The wildlife manager, who proposed to Thurston, 30, during the August season 17 finale of The Bachelorette, opened up about how he attempted to process the news after initially finding himself completely "speechless" when he saw Thurston moving on. "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," he wondered. "I try to stand by having no regrets, but it is instances like this where you really start to fight yourself with having no regrets just with the way things played out." Thurston initially hinted at her new romance when she dedicated Taylor Swift's "Begin Again" to Hersey, 27, on the final day of her “12 Days of Messy” challenge on Tuesday, November 23. The post highlighted a montage of sweet moments between the Washington native and Hersey, who Thurston originally sent home during week two of her Bachelorette journey. Throughout the season, fans saw the former bank marketing manager find love with Moynes, who previously appeared on season 16 of the ABC series, but made a surprising return to pursue Thurston. The pair left the show engaged. [sendtonews type="float" key="ENGP0swekn-2836526-14453"] "It’s actually probably the most romantic thing someone’s ever done,” the Bachelor alum gushed during the After the Final Rose special in August. “I know you question it in the beginning. I know a lot of people did, but knowing that I could’ve turned him away and he would’ve looked dumb, he took all these risks for me and no one’s ever believed in me like that. So for him to just trust in us early on, it just means everything.” Two months after their proposal aired, Thurston and Moynes called it quits. "It is with mutual love and respect that we have decided to go our separate ways. We are so grateful for the moments we shared together and the entire journey that has unfolded this year, but we ultimately have concluded that we are not compatible as life partners, and it is the most caring choice for both of us to move forward independently," the exes captioned their joint statement via Instagram in October. "We ask for kindness and privacy as we both navigate this transition. Both of us will forever want the best for one another and ask you to please support us in our decision." Nearly one month later, news of Thurston moving on made headlines — and the Canada native admitted that he "didn't see this coming." He noted on Wednesday's podcast, "Everyone is asking questions like I have the answers. I don't. I had no idea. When everyone heard this, I heard the exact same thing. There was speculation, I think, obviously, but I really thought there was no way just based on the timeline." Scroll down for all the details about Moynes' reaction to Thurston's new relationship: [podcast_block]

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin (2); Earl Gibson III/Shutterstock

Blake Moynes Accuses Katie Thurston of Emotional Cheating As She Moves On With John Hersey: 'I Feel Stupid and Foolish’

Coming to terms with it. After Us Weekly broke the news of Katie Thurston's new romance with Bachelor Nation's John Hersey, her ex-fiancé, Blake Moynes, revealed whether he saw the relationship coming. "I really don't think there was any physical cheating there, but there [was] clearly emotional [cheating] for it to transition as quickly as it did. I feel stupid and foolish for allowing it to happen, to some degree," Moynes, 31, revealed during an episode of the "Talking It Out With Bachelor Nation" podcast on Wednesday, November 24. The wildlife manager, who proposed to Thurston, 30, during the August season 17 finale of The Bachelorette, opened up about how he attempted to process the news after initially finding himself completely "speechless" when he saw Thurston moving on. "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," he wondered. "I try to stand by having no regrets, but it is instances like this where you really start to fight yourself with having no regrets just with the way things played out." Thurston initially hinted at her new romance when she dedicated Taylor Swift's "Begin Again" to Hersey, 27, on the final day of her “12 Days of Messy” challenge on Tuesday, November 23. The post highlighted a montage of sweet moments between the Washington native and Hersey, who Thurston originally sent home during week two of her Bachelorette journey. Throughout the season, fans saw the former bank marketing manager find love with Moynes, who previously appeared on season 16 of the ABC series, but made a surprising return to pursue Thurston. The pair left the show engaged. [sendtonews type="float" key="ENGP0swekn-2836526-14453"] "It’s actually probably the most romantic thing someone’s ever done,” the Bachelor alum gushed during the After the Final Rose special in August. “I know you question it in the beginning. I know a lot of people did, but knowing that I could’ve turned him away and he would’ve looked dumb, he took all these risks for me and no one’s ever believed in me like that. So for him to just trust in us early on, it just means everything.” Two months after their proposal aired, Thurston and Moynes called it quits. "It is with mutual love and respect that we have decided to go our separate ways. We are so grateful for the moments we shared together and the entire journey that has unfolded this year, but we ultimately have concluded that we are not compatible as life partners, and it is the most caring choice for both of us to move forward independently," the exes captioned their joint statement via Instagram in October. "We ask for kindness and privacy as we both navigate this transition. Both of us will forever want the best for one another and ask you to please support us in our decision." Nearly one month later, news of Thurston moving on made headlines — and the Canada native admitted that he "didn't see this coming." He noted on Wednesday's podcast, "Everyone is asking questions like I have the answers. I don't. I had no idea. When everyone heard this, I heard the exact same thing. There was speculation, I think, obviously, but I really thought there was no way just based on the timeline." Scroll down for all the details about Moynes' reaction to Thurston's new relationship: [podcast_block]

Credit: ABC/Eric McCandless

The Timeline

Fans were shocked by how quickly Thurston moved on after splitting from Moynes — and he had just as many questions. 

"That's what I have a hard time processing because this ‘12 Days of Messy’ — I didn't sign up for but I was attached to [it] like all the other guys. It started 12 days ago, so I am sure she knew who Day 12 was and who it was going to be and why," he said on Wednesday. "So when I try to think about the breakup happening when it did, roughly a month ago, she probably had an idea 12 days after that or two weeks after that who was going to be No. 12 and how she was going to announce it."

Although Thurston and Hersey kept in touch after he left the ABC series, it was still a shock for Moynes to see them reconnecting in a romantic way.

"I know they spent a lot of time together and stuff but there's just no way. I never had an inkling," he added. "I am just a very secure guy and I give my trust out 100 percent, especially to the person who I should be trusting the most."

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin

What He Saw Between Katie and John

"From my understanding, it was kind of a joke in the beginning. Everyone thought that he had ended up with her and that was the rumor. I knew they had some kind of friendship or conversation through that alone," Moynes detailed. "She was very clear and I trusted everything she said — I still do that. I don't think anything was happening during the time that we were engaged. I really don't."

However, he did consider that Hersey had other intentions when it came to his friendship with Thurston.

"Clearly, he was more into it or was pursuing it or wanted to be hanging out with her all the time. I mean, I was with them, I was in the same plane as them and I didn't think anything of it," Moynes revealed. "When I was in Canada or in Kenya, I would see them together, but again I put my full trust in that there's nothing more than literally just a friendship."

Because his breakup with Thurston happened so "abruptly," Moynes has since questioned whether Thurston and Hersey were able "to form something" before the former fiancés even called it quits.  

"At least emotionally, where they could see something with each other that made it so easy for them to transition when it ended," he noted. "It happened too quickly. There had to have been something there. He at least provided something that she really liked that made the transition easy."

Credit: Courtesy of Katie Thurston/Instagram

How He Found Out

After Us confirmed that Thurston and Hersey took their relationship to the next level, Moynes’ phone "going nuts" with people reaching out to check in.

"I just thought that she might at least tell me on the side just because we have had very cordial and easy conversations through text [since the breakup]. Why not reach out to me and tell me that?" he said on the podcast. "There's a little lack of respect there. The way that she's handled things, I am not overly surprised."

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin

The Greg of It All

Moynes explained that not hearing from Thurston about her new relationship "really takes away a lot" of what he thought their relationship meant.

"I knew I was going to take heat for going on that season and I could have taken the easy road [by] going to [Bachelor in Paradise] to be on the show. I didn't. I chased her. I knew the risk in that. I knew that I looked like an idiot and I knew that I would still get the flack for it," he admitted. "You all saw how much of a man I tried to be through all the Greg [Grippo] stuff and I still to this point try to tell myself that I didn't really plan anything. Try to go back and watch episode nine after you proposed to somebody and try to feel 100 perfect confident. It's almost next to impossible."