Standing up for herself. Amid Katie Thurston’s burgeoning romance with John Hersey, she has stood up to critics who were skeptical of her new love.
“Life is short. Do what makes you happy. 
,” the former Bachelorette, 30, captioned a sweet snap of the pair ice skating on Friday, December 3.
In response, several social media users weighed in about their dating timeline via Instagram comment. One even quipped, “Genuine question? Does that mean when you are bored of him you will get another because ‘happiness?’”
The former bank marketing manager, for her part, boldly shut down the accusation, replying, “Being ‘bored’ and being ‘unhappy’ are very different. If something doesn’t bring joy into my life (friendships, relationships, a job, etc.) — yes, I’m going to remove that from my life.”
In another comment, an Instagram user noted that “she didn’t waste any time” in moving on from her televised engagement with Blake Moynes — which aired during the August finale of The Bachelorette season 17. Thurston clarified that the exes got engaged in April before they eventually called it quits in October.
While several Instagram users took to the social media platform to criticize Thurston, others were more enthusiastic to see the Bachelor season 25 alum move on and happily pursue a romance with the California native, 27.
“It would have never worked for us on the show,” the Washington native commented about their newfound relationship. “He was too shy. A solid friendship first built an amazing foundation.”
Less than one month after Thurston and Moynes, 31, confirmed they had ended their whirlwind engagement, the Bachelorette season 17 lead and Hersey went Instagram official in November. She closed out her “12 Days of Messy” challenge by dedicating Taylor Swift’s “Begin Again (Taylor’s Version)” to the bartender — whom she initially sent home during the second week of the ABC series — alongside a montage of sweet moments together.
While fans and the Canada native may have been blindsided by the news of the duo’s relationship, Hersey quickly shot down any rumors about the nature of their bond and denied any infidelity on his girlfriend’s behalf.
“Katie and I developed an incredible and deep friendship over the last half year or so,” Hersey wrote via a lengthy Reddit letter on November 26. “The circumstances by which this friendship formed was a series of crazy, random and coincidental events, that I’m sure you will all hear about at a later time. My point for now is that we were ALWAYS platonic. Even during my short stint on the season, we never had a chance to foster anything romantic (read as: John blew his chance and left the next day hahaha). The boundaries of our friendship with respect to her ongoing relationship never even required addressing, because it was never a thought in our minds that we would ever be anything more.”
The new couple’s romance has continued to heat up as they’ve documented their journey via social media. The pair even made their first joint red carpet appearance on Thursday, December 2, at mutual friend Stephen Lovegrove’s First Noelle Ball. The couple, who shared plenty of event snaps via Instagram Stories, also sweetly packed on the PDA while posing on the carpet.