Katie Thurston and John Hersey Reflect on Blake Moynes’ Reaction to Their Romance, ’12 Days of Messy’ Backlash

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Katie Thurston and John Hersey Reflect on Blake Moynes’ Reaction to Their Romance, ’12 Days of Messy’ Backlash

As their relationship continues to grow, Katie Thurston and John Hersey are reflecting on the rocky reaction — from Bachelor Nation and her ex-fiancé —to their romance. It’s been less than a year since fans watched the 31-year-old former bank marketing manager get engaged to Blake Moynes on season 17 of The Bachelorette. Roughly three months after the finale aired, however, the twosome called it quits in October 2021. That November, Katie revealed she started dating John, who she sent home during week two of her season. “There are so many guys and there's only so much time to support those men. And so the first night, I actually didn't get to talk to him until the very end and he was with, like, three other guys, so it was very rushed the first night,” Katie began during a joint interview with John on Kaitlyn Bristowe’s “Off the Vine” podcast on Tuesday, March 29. “Which then meant those, like, jitters, I think we? still there for him. Because by the time we got to sit down and talk, which was the evening portion of the group date [on episode two], he was so robotic, and it felt like an interview.” The former ABC personality revealed that the former bartender, 28, was actually a “front-runner” after his Bachelorette limo entrance, but things changed quickly. “He was very attractive. He's very charming. And I told my producers, I'm like, ‘Oh, I have my eyes on him,’ which is a blessing and a curse because you have to make quick decisions,” she continued. “So I put him so high up that as soon as I talked to him, and he failed, that I was, like, ‘We can move to the back of the line.’” [jwplayer JnaUZJ8P-zhNYySv2] John agreed that nerves played a big part in why the twosome didn’t hit it off during week two following their immediate connection. “The best part about that night was that every person who talked to Katie recognized how great of a person she is. And they all come out of their time with her and [said] like, ‘I’m in love with this girl. This girl’s incredible, like, I know why I'm here.’ And I walked out of that room after speaking to Katie and I was like, ‘I’m going home,’” he explained. “Everyone else has hearts in their eyes. And I'm just like, ‘I’ll see you guys back at home.’ … I blew it.” The former Bachelorette contestant added that the show felt “so unnatural” to him. “I've never had a serious conversation with someone and sat down next to them and, like, held their hands on this bench that’s, like, two feet wide,” John told Kaitlyn, 35. “And in the meantime, you know, she was telling me very personal things about her life, and I was just like, ‘There are two cameramen two feet away from me staring straight at me, like, how do I process this heavy information and talk in front of cameras?’” The twosome struck up a friendship while the season was airing and John even spent time with Blake, 31, before the wildlife manager and Katie split. The Bachelorette season 16 and 17 alum, for his part, implied that there was emotional cheating on Katie’s part after he learned she moved on so quickly. “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,” he said during an episode of the “Talking It Out With Bachelor Nation” podcast in November 2021. “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.” Scroll through for more from Katie and John — including their reaction to his comments:

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Do They Feel Pressure To Get Engaged?

“I don't think there's pressure. But I definitely think people ask it a lot,” Katie told Kaitlyn of a future engagement. “Because they are so used to a very quick engagement. So in their minds, they're like, ‘So when are you guys getting engaged?’ But in the normal world when you aren’t on a dating show, it's not normal to ask that after just a few months. I don't necessarily feel pressure at all.”

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin

Katie Had to Look Up John When People Thought He Won the Season

While the summer 2021 season of The Bachelorette was airing, fans were convinced Katie and John ended up together due to theories about her visiting a bar he used to work at in San Diego.

“At the time you're thinking, ‘John, who?’ Let’s be real,” he quipped when Kaitlyn brought up the speculation.

Katie responded, “Honestly, I looked up his picture. I'm like, ‘Oh, that's John.’”

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin

How John Feels About Blake

After Katie told the season 11 Bachelorette that they still weren’t ready to share all of the details of their love story, Kaitlyn pointed out that Blake had already given his point of view, seemingly referring to his aforementioned appearance on the “Talking It Out” podcast.

“It kind of was disappointing, because Blake and I — and I think he's gone on to say now on other podcasts — we both knew our relationship was not working out. My relationship with Blake was a very separate situation [from] my relationship with John,” she said. “There was not overlap. There was nothing but respect. It's just two different situations.”

John added that he “witnessed their whole relationship” as one of Katie’s best friends.

“I watched how much effort she put into that relationship while it was falling apart. And what really pissed me off about that, like, listening to that podcast was when there started to be a narrative get painted that she was putting no effort in, and Blake was the only one putting effort in at the end,” he explained. “And furthermore, that in that time, where she was ‘absent,’ that she was somehow emotionally cheating with me. … It just pissed me off.”

John continued: “I met Blake and we hung out with Blake for a solid, what 12 [or] 18 hours? … And I did not have a negative opinion of Blake at all, like, we had fun together. We did an escape room and we hung out all day. But that's why when that happened, I was disappointed at first. And then I realized I was, like, ‘This is him capitalizing on this opportunity,’ which I understand — I get how it works, like, seeing this world now for the past almost a year. … Just when it was at the expense of my friend, it was frustrating.”

Credit: Courtesy of Katie Thurston/Instagram

Why Katie and John Went Public

While some fans wondered whether the duo went public too soon, they didn’t want to live in hiding. “Once we explored our connection, we knew that there was something long-term there and we knew that we were going to have to kind of own that,” Katie said. “People talk about like, ‘Oh, it was so quick,' and like, that's fine. You can think [about] timelines, that's fine. The show is its own quickness. But we just kind of wanted to own exactly what we are. We didn't want to sneak around in public and have people take photos of us or come up with their own agenda or narrative.”

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The '12 Days of Messy' Backlash

Katie made headlines in late 2021 when she assigned her Bachelorette exes Taylor Swift songs, kicking off her “challenge” with Blake and “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.”

“I texted him, he's like, ‘Haha, yeah, I know what you're like.’ Everything was very fine,” she told Kaitlyn before admitting Thomas Jacobs and Becca Kufrin’s reaction to “I Knew You Were Trouble” caused more issues. “It was a lot messier than I, honestly, anticipated. And I will say, with Thomas' [song], it did not go the way I expected. It upset Thomas, it upset Becca. I did reach out to both of them the minute I realized that it was upsetting to them and understood where they're coming from and heard them out.”

The couple’s response prompted Katie to cut Greg Grippo’s song to “remove any negativity going forward,” adding, “Everyone knows, probably, what Greg’s song maybe, hypothetically would have been.” (While Katie didn’t confirm the track title, there was a lot of speculation from fans that Greg was assigned “All Too Well” after their messy split and her accusing him of being a gaslighter.)

Credit: Courtesy of Katie Thurston/Instagram

They Moved in Together

Katie and John revealed to Kaitlyn that they officially live together at her place. It hasn’t been a completely seamless transition, however, as John navigates Katie’s messy habits.

“She leaves drawers open and cabinets open. And when you can't close them because of something, I'm like, ‘You gotta you gotta clean that out,’” he explained.