Katie Thurston Broke Down In Tears While Discussing Her Split With Blake Moynes

Bachelor Nation was shocked when Katie Thurston and Blake Moynes announced that they called off their engagement on Oct. 25 after roughly six months together. They announced the news by sharing formal statements on Instagram that didn’t give fans much insight as to what exactly went wrong. However, in a tearful video that the former Bachelorette shared on Halloween weekend, she divulged some more details about the breakup and let her Instagram followers know how she’s been doing since they went their separate ways.

“Obviously a public relationship ending is a really sh*tty thing to have to navigate, but you guys have been very kind and supportive and I just wanted to say thank you for being that way to me and to Blake, and for being understanding,” she began. “I think a lot of people hold too much weight to things that don’t matter. I’m a big believer in your happiness. Your happiness is the most important thing, and that being said why would you not pursue that?”

The Season 17 lead went on to say that “people stay in relationships because they put so much time and effort into it and they keep waiting for new results,” but that she didn’t want to lie to herself and wait for things to change. And while she knows that longtime fans of the reality series want to know what exactly caused the split, what it came down to was that they simply weren’t compatible as life partners.

“I think a lot of people are like, ‘Well, what really happened? What’s the big thing that happened with Katie and Blake?’ We were together for six months,” Katie continued. “Blake and I are very levelheaded and mature and we communicate very well on our thoughts. We just both knew if this is how our first six months was as a couple, going forward it was not going to be in our best interest for our happiness to stay together, and so we, as mentioned, mutually decided to part our ways.”

One of the toughest parts, according to the Bachelorette star, is that people have been questioning “the authenticity” of the love that they shared. “For those people passing judgment, I can only hope to be so lucky as you to find your forever love on the first try,” she said. “Ending a relationship isn’t something new, ending an engagement isn’t something new, divorce is not something new.” She also said that she and Blake were “very fortunate” to realize they weren’t meant to be early on.

“At the end of the day, your happiness is what’s important,” Thurston said after letting out a few tears. “If something is taking that away from you — and that’s not even a dig at Blake, that’s a dig at what him and I were as partners — then we owe it to each other to step away, so that’s what we’re doing.” Before closing out her video, Katie told her followers that she’s looking forward to showing her followers more of who she is outside of the franchise and outside of being Blake’s fiancée.

“Hopefully, once I kind of get back in the swing of things, you’ll see more of who I am and what I have to offer as a person,” she said, adding that she misses the version of herself from before The Bachelor franchise the most. “We’ll get there,” she added. “I’m still kind of figuring out my life here in San Diego.”