Katie Thurston Says It’s “Time To Retire” From Reality Dating Shows

Still single after appearing on ABC’s trifecta of The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, and Bachelor in Paradise, Katie Thurston took her search to find love to an entirely new network. When her stint on The CW’s FBoy Island also failed, Katie finally decided reality TV might not be the best place to meet her perfect match.

“I think it’s time to retire from dating shows,” the former Bachelorette lead announced during a Dec. 9 Q&A in her Instagram stories. She’s not swearing off the genre completely, though, joking that she’ll maybe “just try to join” Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, after attending Kathy Hilton’s holiday party on Nov. 28.

No More FBoys

During the FBoy Island Season 3 finale, which aired on Dec. 8, Katie chose “nice guy” Vince Xu over Benedict Polizzi, earning them the $100,000 prize to split. On the show, she told Vince that she “definitely found love” with him, but in a subsequent social media post Katie revealed that they are no longer dating.

“That being said, if I am ever asked to go on reality TV to date again, please just cancel me. Please just cancel me,” Katie told her followers in a video posted to her Instagram story on Dec. 9. “Three times and doesn’t work out? Maybe, maybe reality TV isn’t where your husband is, Katie. Just a thought.”

Despite the breakup, Katie and Vince at least seem to be on good terms. She tagged him in a Dec. 8 Instagram caption, writing, in part, “I’m thankful our paths continued to cross and that you are now part of a chapter I’ll never forget.” Vince, for his part, replied with a trio of heart emojis and shared her post to his Instagram stories.

A Bachelorette Reunion

In a separate story, Katie also clarified the timeline of her recent Bachelor in Paradise Season 9 cameo, revealing that she filmed the ABC series on June 17, before leaving for FBoy Island around July 9.

Though Katie didn’t come to Paradise to date (she hosted a brutal cast roast), she took the opportunity to make peace with her ex-fiancé, Blake Moynes, two years post-split. They agreed there was still love between them, but they didn’t get back together.

There might be hope for the future, though. On a November episode of the She’s All Bach podcast, Katie said “of course” there was a chance she and Blake could reconcile.

“Blake and I were engaged, and, as much as people want to speculate on how real or not real it was, Blake and I know our engagement was very much real,” Katie said. “There was a period of time where we were very in love and very happy. And there was this, I don’t know, unresolved emotions I think that surrounded both Blake and I when we saw each other on the beach. And we got to kind of figure out what that means for us.”