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Former Bachelorette Katie Thurston Details Her ‘Unavoidable’ Split From John Hersey: ‘He Dumped Me’
Getting real. Nearly two months after Katie Thurston and John Hersey announced their breakup, the former Bachelorette star is sharing why their split was “unavoidable.”
“Technically, we broke up twice,” Katie, 31, revealed on the Tuesday, August 23, episode of Kaitlyn Bristowe‘s “Off the Vine” podcast, noting that she and John got back together after the first split. “I thought we were golden,” Katie added, revealing that John was the one who “dumped her.”
Now, the former ABC star said she’s “in such a good place to talk about it,” referring to the split. “If you asked me the week of I would have just cried and never stopped,” Katie told Kaitlyn.
“Look, I bought this man a freaking travel van. I let this man quit his job,” Katie explained. “I was like, ‘Whatever you need me to be, I will be.’ Which, in hindsight, that’s not healthy. That’s not good.”
John was a contestant on season 17 of The Bachelorette, in which Katie was the lead. She left the show engaged to Blake Moynes, but they split in October 2021, two months after his proposal. Katie was quick to move on with John and they were together from November 2021 until June of this year.
As for why they split? Katie revealed on her “Off the Vine” podcast appearance that she told John, “I know more reasons why you don’t like me than why you love me, and that’s a really sh–ty feeling.”
She said that John countered by telling her that he needed someone “who can enjoy my passions.” Katie, for her part, argued that she went skydiving for him multiple times but “somehow that was completely ignored.”
“At that point I knew nothing I did was going to be good enough,” she added, noting that their split was “a blessing in disguise.” Katie went on to explain that if John didn’t initiate their breakup, she “would have stuck it out.”
As for where they stand now, the former Bachelor Nation lead said John would “love to stay friends.” But from her perspective, she said “we’re on good terms” and John has since paid her back for the van that she bought him. “I guess the short answer is, we’re OK,” she explained.
When it comes to the future of Katie’s relationships, the Bachelorette alum said that she’s keeping her love life out of the public eye going forward. “I will hard launch on my wedding day,” she quipped.
