Season 17 of The Bachelorette found former Bachelor contestant Katie Thurston trying to find the love of her life out of about 30 men. A couple of weeks into the season, Blake Moynes joined, stating that he felt so connected to Katie that he wanted to be in the season and see how they worked as a couple. Thurston told PEOPLE that they had talked previously over DM, but that she didn’t think anything would come of it until he came onto her season and she got to know him better. Their onscreen relationship found audience members swooning over street hockey games with family, paintball excursions and the declaration of their love for one another later in the season.
While there was speculation that Moynes would leave the show, he made it clear that being by Thurston’s side was the most important thing to him. Their love for one another was solidified by the final three week when contestant Greg Grippo left, Thurston later feeling that he wasn’t there for the right reasons, and contestant Justin Glaze didn’t have a strong connection with Thurston. It was only a matter of time before Thurston sent home Glaze after Grippo quit the show, leaving Moynes as the last contestant. After a tumultuous season of heartbreak and lies, Thurston gave Moynes the final rose and Moynes then proposed, leading her to happily say yes.
Following the show’s finale, the newly engaged couple made their debut at the “After the Final Rose” talk and discussed how gracious they are for the show setting them up together. They say they are still engaged and, though they didn’t really discuss engagement at any point, they were happy to start this new journey in their life. Fans were glad to see them together as couples sometimes break up before “After the Final Rose” airs, especially after such high-intensity seasons. Thurston and Moynes went on to be interviewed by a myriad of magazines, always stating that they were in love with each other and that their engagement would lead to marriage.
In an interview in August with PEOPLE, they discussed that their current plans included traveling around Canada, San Diego and other places to find somewhere to put their roots. Thurston insisted that though there were no plans to settle down and get married quickly, she had never been in a relationship that she felt as confident in as this one. For the past three months, they have showcased each other on all social media platforms and continued to be a couple that fans were sure would stay together.
Unfortunately, on Oct. 26, Thurston and Moynes posted a joint message on their Instagram pages stating that they have decided to end their engagement. This came after only two months of the couple being engaged and while Moynes was on a work trip to Africa. “We are so grateful for the moments we shared together and the entire journey that has unfolded this year, but we ultimately have concluded that we are not compatible as life partners, and it is the most caring choice for both of us to move forward independently,” both posts stated. This breakup looks to be an amicable one from their messages and they both ask their fans to support the choice they have made.
Currently, all previous posts of the two of them remain on their separate Instagram pages and they still follow each other’s accounts. Though they haven’t opened up about the reasons for their separation or when it actually happened, people on Twitter are assuming that it happened quite a while ago and they only just now posted about it, while also saying that they aren’t shocked by this decision. It should be noted that out of The Bachelor and Bachelorette franchises, only nine couples have been successful with their engagements, The Bachelorette leading with five successful couples. The separation of Thurston and Moynes subtracts from the success rate, but with a new season of The Bachelorette currently airing, there is another chance for a successful engagement to emerge.
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