Katie Thurston recounts story of sexual assault on ‘The Bachelorette’
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Katie Thurston won our hearts on the last season of The Bachelor with Matt James when she popped out of a limo to greet him with a vibrator. Throughout her time, she stood up to bullies, bravely confronted people to their faces, and wasn’t afraid to clap back.
Her time now as The Bachelorette has been no different, with her ability to sniff out snakes and clean house. But she displayed a different type of bravery Monday night, revealing a painful experience that is all too common.
During a group date in last night’s episode, Katie invited Aaron, Quartney, James, Connor B., David, Justin, Thomas, Hunter and Brendan to sit with former Bachelor Nick Viall in a group session to reveal whatever red flags they had upfront.
Katie also went deep, revealing that she is the survivor of a sexual assault that happened 10 years ago on New Year’s Eve.
“I had been drinking, and I was involved in a situation where there wasn't consent," she said, noting that she never revealed this incident to her own mother.
"It's not something I wish upon anybody," she continued holding back tears. "I was in denial about what happened, so much so that I tried to form a relationship with him because I didn’t want to believe what actually had happened.”
“When that didn’t work out, for years I had a very unhealthy relationship with sex. I didn’t want to have sex, which affects a relationship. I didn’t like talking about sex. It’s taken me a long time to get to where I am now in being open and comfortable talking about it and loving myself and accepting things I can no longer control."
Later, in tears to the camera, she added: "For a long time, I felt responsible for being too drunk, too irresponsible, too stupid. But it’s not my fault. Because consent is important and I did not give it that night."
It turns out, Katie wasn’t even planning on sharing this story at the time, but as the tone of the group date shifted and more men were opening up about their past, it compelled her to speak.
“Going into it, I was probably going to share something surface level,” she told Glamour. “I don’t really have dark relationship secrets like that. I date pretty seriously in long-term so I was like, 'I don’t know what to share.'"
"But as each guy opened up more and more, I felt compelled to be vulnerable with them and share that story," she said.
When asked if she has told her mother now, Katie said, “There was a point where I wondered if my story was even going to be shown because it is kind of a heavy topic for family television. Once I got the confirmation that, yes, that was going to be shared—I will say, the producers did ask me if I was comfortable with that. I did have the option to not have that aired […] But it was only two weeks ago that I told my mom because I knew this episode was coming up and I didn’t want her to find out on TV.”
She also added that sharing her story to a big audience like Bachelor Nation and international TV was important to her: “I felt it was important to share my story to start these conversations with the viewers, whether they’ve experienced it themselves or to educate people on what consent really means.”
Viewers were indeed incredibly moved by Katie’s story, and many thanked her for her bravery.
This is only the second time a contestant in a Bachelor show has shared their story about a past sexual assault. In 2019, Bachelor contestant Caelynn Miller-Keyes revealed to Colton Underwood that she and two of her friends were drugged and raped while in college. She had previously come forward as a survivour in 2018 when she won Miss North Carolina USA.
For resources in your province, visit the Canadian Resource Center for Victims of Crime or call 1-877-232-2610 or text 613-208-0747.
