Blake Moynes’ ‘Bachelorette’ Timeline: From DMs With Clare Crawley to Showing Up for Katie Thurston

Credit: ABC (3)

Blake Moynes’ ‘Bachelorette’ Timeline: From DMs With Clare Crawley to Showing Up for Katie Thurston

It turns out Katie Thurston is The One for Blake Moynes after his pursuits of Clare Crawley and Tayshia Adams fell short. The season 16 Bachelorette contestant made his debut on season 17 of the ABC series on June 28, 2021, and less than two months later, the pair celebrated their engagement. Bachelor Nation fans met the Canadian when Clare’s journey premiered in October 2020. While she quickly fell for Dale Moss, Blake was smitten with the Bachelor Winter Games alum, whom he admitted to reaching out to via Instagram before the cameras started rolling. Despite his feelings for Clare, she left the show within the first two weeks of production to be with Dale. “It ended so abruptly. It was easy to just be like, ‘OK, fair enough,’” Blake told Us Weekly in December 2020 about Clare leaving early. “She fell in love hard. And you know, she broke it off, like, too bad for us. It is what it is. It's unfortunate, but that those things happen. I didn't see it happening the way that it did, and I was shocked, but I got closure.” After Tayshia arrived at the Palm Springs, California, resort to take over, Blake stuck around and started to fall for her too. He was eliminated before the hometown date during a December 2020 episode, and she ended up engaged to Zac Clark. [jwplayer oaiefj6E-l3ahXupL] “The connection [I had with Tayshia] was very slow. But every time that we’d make a step, I think I opened her eyes more and more and more,” he told Us. “And I think you saw that a couple of times, like, ‘Every time I talk to Blake, he shows a different side of him.’ And that’s what happened. I think she had her guard up just like she said at the Men Tell All, I walked in with a red flag over my head [because I had feelings for Clare too].” Fast-forward to 2021 and Blake tuned into Matt James’ season of The Bachelor and watched Katie pursue the former football player. As a result, he opted to return to the series after filming for season 17 began in March for a shot with the former banking manager. Former Bachelor Nick Viall, who filmed a guest spot on Katie’s third episode, told Us that Katie spoke to him about Blake during his visit, even though footage of him won’t air until week 4. “I think Katie had met him. I don’t know for sure. She had told me about it and it was filmed. They didn’t use it, but it was filmed,” Nick said on Us’ “Here for the Right Reasons” podcast on June 22, noting that there’s “so many moving pieces” on The Bachelorette and too much to cover from the group date to introduce Blake just yet. Tayshia, who is cohosting Katie’s season with Kaitlyn Bristowe, confirmed to Us that she spoke to Blake before he officially joined the season 17 cast. “I was a little shocked! But in a good way,” Tayshia told Us in June. “I had a conversation with him and he’s a good man. So, if he felt like he wanted to show up and surprise someone, then I stand behind it.” Scroll through for Blake’s complete timeline with Katie and the ABC series:

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin

March 2020

ABC announced the original cast for season 16 of The Bachelorette in March 2020.

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Summer of 2020

Blake was one of the men the network opted to keep after the coronavirus pandemic forced production to be suspended until July 2020. It was revealed on Clare’s season that Blake reached out to the hairstylist before filming began.

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin

October 2020

During the October 13 premiere, Blake confessed to contacting Clare during the production shutdown.

“Clare posted on Instagram on a Story that she was really struggling right now because of what her mom was going through in the hospital. So, I want to check in if she’s OK,” he said on the show, referring to Clare’s mother who has Alzheimer’s and dementia.

While she was touched by the gesture, Clare explained that she couldn’t reply. "So, over quarantine, it was really hard for me. And I didn't want to bring this up, but there are these weird rules that we have to follow for the show of not contacting somebody, and you were the only guy who reached out to me the entire time," she said. "So, you broke the rule that you're not supposed to contact somebody. But I want you to know that that time you broke the rule meant everything to me. The fact that you risked not coming on here and putting that on the line, at a time where I was really struggling, it meant everything to me."

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin

November 2020

Within the first two weeks of production on season 16, Clare left with Dale.

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin

December 2020

After his exit aired in December 2020, Blake admitted to Us that he was struggling to get over Tayshia.

“If it was Tayshia from the beginning, I think my story would have been a little bit different. It was tough because I felt, like, even emotionally, I could feel it, like, she could see something there,” he said at the time. “And it was so frustrating to get in the limo and be like, ‘There’s something here but you’re just not letting it happen.’ And that was the most unfortunate. Right when I first got back [home], I was frustrated because it sucks. The connection that we had came on, like, the last day I was there. So, it was so fresh.”

He added: “I felt like we made such a stride. And it was, like, shut down. But I still was hanging on to that day just because we blamed it on time. I wish she just said, ‘You’re not The One for me. There’s other connections here. I don’t see us being a thing.’ Instead, it was like, ‘We ran out of time, the connection came too late.’ And so yeah, I got sent home. And I was like, thinking about the what-ifs, the potential.”

Credit: ABC (2)

February 2021

Katie’s exit from Matt’s season aired in early February. Not long after her departure aired, she heard from Blake.

“We had chatted before, but usually what happens is, like, the guys will reach out to the women once they’re eliminated and be like, ‘Good luck, you did great.’ Like very generic, you know?” Katie told Us in June about their pre-show conversation. “And so to see him [in New Mexico], I was like, ‘Why is he here?’ Like, ‘What’s happening?’”

Credit: ABC

April 2021

Us confirmed on April 1 that Blake was on the set at the New Mexico resort.

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June 2021

The show premiered on June 7. While Blake’s first scenes are set to air on the June 28 episode of the ABC show, Nick told Us that he was on the set while the cast filmed the June 21 episode.

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin

August 2021

After dramatic exits from Michael Allio and Greg Grippo, Katie threatened to quit the show, but ultimately stayed for Blake. After he confessed his love for her during the August 9 finale, she said it back and he proposed before they left New Mexico.

"I know how great of a wife you’re going to be, mother you’re going to be. … I know that you in the past have talked about how you’ve had to compromise to make things work. I don’t want you to do that, but I can’t give you what you came here for … because you deserve a lot more than that,” he said before he got down on one knee. "You deserve the world and I’m excited to support you and be there for you every day moving forward. So that being said, Katie Lane Thurston, will you marry me?"