One day at a time. Katie Thurston is keeping her head held high after splitting from John Hersey.
The former Bachelorette and the bartender dated for less than one year before Thurston shared a cryptic message about their relationship status. “Statement: No, we aren’t together,” she wrote via her Instagram Story on June 20.
Hersey went on to address their breakup in a lengthier note to fans. “I love being able to share special moments with you all — the funny ones. The happy ones. The outrageous, embarrassing, and heartfelt ones. But I don’t know if it will ever get easier to share the sad ones. As Katie stated earlier, we are no longer dating,” he explained. “This decision was not made lightly, and it was obviously not an easy one to make.”
He added on June 21: “I appreciate every one of you that has supported us throughout this journey. We could not (and would not) be here without you.”
The twosome met while filming season 17 of The Bachelorette, but Hersey didn’t last long on the show. Thurston sent him packing during the second week, ending her journey engaged to Blake Moynes. The pair called it quits in October 2021, nearly three months after the finale aired.
Fans were taken by surprise in November 2021 when Thurston revealed she was dating Hersey during her “12 Days of Messy” challenge inspired by Taylor Swift‘s new version of Red. Moynes later claimed he wasn’t aware of the relationship before the duo went public.
“On Day 12, people were like, ‘Do you think it’s going to be John?’ And I was like, ‘No, it’s going to be about herself and [how] she reinvented and found herself in this [process],’” the wildlife manager said on an episode of the “Talking It Out With Bachelor Nation” podcast. “So when that dropped … I had to pull over because my phone was going nuts. I pulled over in a Best Buy parking lot and everyone was ringing me, they were like, ‘There’s no f–king way.’”
The Canada native admitted he was “shocked” by the reveal. “I just thought that she might at least tell me on the side,” he continued. “Just because we have had very cordial, easy conversations [since the breakup]. We haven’t had one in a while … but, you know, they’ve been very cordial and very good. So why not reach out to me and tell me that, at least, to give me a heads up?”
Moynes went on to accuse his ex-fiancée of “emotional” cheating before they called off their engagement. “I feel stupid and foolish for allowing it to happen, to some degree,” he said, referring to Thurston and Hersey’s strong friendship. “I don’t know if it was partially me too, like, was she emotionally cheating to some degree because I wasn’t able to provide something with words of affirmation, which I know I struggle with sometimes.”
Though theirs wasn’t a forever romance, Hersey made it clear that he still values the season 25 Bachelor alum’s friendship. “I have never been so supported or unconditionally loved by a partner. Assuming and implying that Katie is doing anything wrong does not sit right with me,” he fired back at an Instagram troll on June 21 as the user claimed Thurston couldn’t keep a partner following multiple public breakups. “The internet can be a mean place — let’s not add to it.”
Scroll down for Thurston’s quotes about her split from Hersey: