From Katie Thurston and John Hersey’s red carpet appearances to the aftermath of Michelle Young’s Men Tell All, Us Weekly breaks down the biggest news in Bachelor Nation on the “Here for the Right Reasons” podcast with Zachary Reality.
The season 17 Bachelorette, 30, announced last month that she is dating her former contestant, 27, who was sent home week 2 on the ABC series. The real came at the end of her “12 Days of Messy” challenge, with Katie setting a video with John to Taylor Swift’s “Begin Again” via Instagram Stories. After making an appearance at a holiday party on December 2, Katie and the bartender attended the 2021 People’s Choice Awards on Tuesday, December 7.
In addition to gushing about their “honeymoon phase” during an exclusive interview with Us on the red carpet, Katie revealed that she’s spoken to her former fiancé, Blake Moynes, since ending their engagement in late October.
“Yes, yes,” she told Us when asked whether she’s spoken to Blake, 31. “I’ll leave it at that.”
While Bachelor Nation hasn’t been shy about being surprised by Katie moving on with John within a month of her split from Blake — and John already meeting Katie’s controversial Aunt Lindsey — host Zachary Reality explains why he’s a fan of the duo on the Thursday, December 9, episode of the “Here for the Right Reasons” podcast.
“I know for a fact that she did not cheat on Blake with John,” the TikToker claims. “Things just happened naturally after that relationship ended with Blake. But I was just really happy for her because I can tell that they really like each other, they vibe more, they match more and that John is actually into her. I still to this day kind of think that Katie and Blake was a Bachelor sham proposal. … I think that’s why it was easy for her to move on so quickly to somebody who was her best friend.”
Elsewhere on Thursday’s podcast, Zachary helps break down how Michelle’s contestants have continued the drama after Tuesday’s Men Tell All. Will Urena, for his part, posted a lengthy message after his fight with Peter Izzo — during which he claimed Peter’s sister slide into his DMs and Peter accused Will of leaving bad Yelp reviews for his restaurant — aired.
“Instead of finding my next life partner I was thrown in drama and tense situations,” he wrote via Instagram Stories. “That being said, I’ve made my peace with it. And as you all saw I made peace with Peter. That’s not to say we’ll be having a special bond, but part of what Michelle taught me was letting things be and managing my emotions. As she said yesterday, being a coach is to uplift people and I don’t want to fall into a trap of hating someone or aiding in their torment. So I need you all to forgive Peter. He is a person. He is a man. He is a guy who like myself has a strong personality and we just happened to clash.”