The Bachelorette alum Katie Thurston has revealed that her ex-fiance Blake Moynes looked at her "like he saw a ghost" when she stepped on the beach in Mexico.
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The Bachelorette Season 17 star, however, admittedly thought her entrance into Paradise was going to be more glamorous and better received.
"I was told when I was going to see everybody, everyone was going to be very excited and get up and hug me," Katie said during the October 8 episode of "The Ben and Ashley I: Almost Famous Podcast."
Katie added, "And so I went in with this like mentality of like, 'I'm about to be so welcomed.' When I walked down, obviously the first person I look for is Blake, and he's looking at me like he saw a ghost."
Katie suggested that the bachelors and bachelorettes in Paradise appeared stunned or confused.
"It feels like five minutes of nobody saying anything, no one's getting up. Like, I feel so uncomfortable," Katie recalled.
"I will do open mic [as a standup comedian] over and over again before I ever have to experience entering the beach that way."
Katie selected Blake as her winner on The Bachelorette's seventeenth season, and they got engaged during the show's finale, which aired in early August 2021.
However, shortly after going public with their engagement, Katie and Blake announced their split in October 2021.
Earlier this summer, ABC released a trailer of the new Bachelor in Paradise season that showed Katie surprising the Paradise cast with her presence and Blake essentially having a meltdown.
"I don't think Blake's going to be happy that I'm here," she said in the teaser, which panned to an unhappy-looking Blake turning away from his ex.
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The trailer also provided fans with a glimpse of Katie and Blake's first conversation and in-person meeting since ending their engagement and parting ways about a year-and-a-half ago.
But Katie told Ben Higgins and Ashley Iaconetti that she wasn't really nervous about seeing her ex-fiance again in Paradise.
"So much time had passed, I was indifferent. Blake is very mature, and despite how things happened in the aftermath, overall, we were two happy people who were in love at one point," Katie explained.
"And so I was optimistic that no matter what his situation was in Paradise, that the conversation was going to be a positive one and much needed as we both navigate what happens next in our lives."
It's assumed that when Katie makes an appearance on Bachelor in Paradise, Blake will be romantically paired up with Jessica "Jess" Girod. (Bachelor in Paradise's latest episode featured Blake giving his rose to Jess at the first Rose Ceremony of the season).
A few weeks after Katie and the wildlife specialist announced their breakup, Katie went Instagram official with one of her Week 2 The Bachelorette eliminees, John Hersey, in November 2021.
Katie faced backlash for having moved on from her former fiance too quickly with a "rebound," but both Katie and John denied any wrongdoing in the press, and Katie insisted she had never emotionally or physically cheated on Blake.
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"I don't know how it happened, but we just had gotten into a conversation, and at one point, I just said to him, 'I know more reasons why you don't like me than why you love me.' And that's a really sh-tty feeling," Katie shared on the "Off the Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe" podcast in August 2022.
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The former The Bachelorette star and John had a whirlwind six-month romance, which included Katie letting John move into her former San Diego apartment.
Katie vented to Kaitlyn Bristowe last summer how John was actually the one who broke up with her -- after she had bought him a travel van so they could take road trips together.
"I let this man quit his job. I was like, 'Whatever you need me to be, I will be' -- which, in hindsight, that's not healthy, that's not good," The Bachelor alum said, acknowledging she had lost herself in the relationship.
"But it is a little, like, offensive to be like, 'Damn, like, I gave you everything,' and you're still being like, 'This isn't working out.'"
After John and Katie's breakup, Katie moved out of the San Diego apartment they had shared. Katie said she didn't want to live in a place that had so many memories of her exes in it.
"I'm just in a good place. I realize my worth and I realize what I want," Katie said on a late July episode of the "LadyGang" podcast.
"I feel in some ways so free right now... The only person I need to please is myself, no pun intended."
Prior to starring on The Bachelorette, Katie competed for Matt James' heart on Season 25 of The Bachelor.
Katie will also be appearing on FBoy Island's third season, which premieres October 16 on The CW.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
