It's a Bachelorette season—or should I say seasons?—like no other. In 2021, Katie Thurston is the first of two Bachelorettes, followed in the fall by fellow Matt James contestant Michelle Young. You'll remember Thurston, whose season premiered June 7, 2021, as the straight talker who wasn't afraid to put the other girls in their place—and, oh yeah, the girl who hilariously brought a vibrator to meet Matt on night one. Filming has finished on Thurston's season, so if you're here because you're wondering if she got engaged—or just crave spoilers in general—you're in the right place.
Thurston's season comes at a turbulent time for the Bachelor franchise. As the first Black Bachelor, Matt James's season was meant to be historic—but instead, it was marred by bullying and, later, the racist social media activity of James's winner Rachael Kirkconnell. (They broke up, but it seems they're back together now, FWIW.) Chris Harrison went on Extra to defend Kirkconnell's behavior—something even Kirkconnell had begged people not to do—and tried to mansplain the situation to former Bachelorette, and Black woman, Rachel Lindsay. Harrison was suspended as host, which is why he isn't on Katie Thurston's season—her hosts are Tayshia Adams and Kaitlyn Bristowe—nor on Bachelor in Paradise. The day after Thurston's season began airing, ABC confirmed that Harrison will not be returning to the franchise at all (you can learn about who might replace him in the long-term here).
Ahead, everything you wanted to know about Katie Thurston's season, start to finish. Spoilers ahead, obviously.
Does Katie get engaged?
Let's get straight to the big question, shall we? Namely, did Katie find the man of her dreams on her season?
Yes, she did! Per Reality Steve: "Katie definitely got engaged at the end of this. And unless she breaks up before the finale, which I guess anything can happen, but she’s happy and engaged as we speak, so I’d expect that to last til the finale you’d think."
Reality Steve is usually, but not always, correct about his end-of-his season predictions. But even outside of that, we know that filming ended a week ahead of schedule. Obviously, we don't know why, exactly—but it's possible that Thurston was so certain about her decision that she didn't want to waste any time.
She also told Us Weekly that she went into the show ready to get engaged, saying: “I just know where I’m at in life, and it really shows how serious I am about falling in love and finding my person. And if the thought of being engaged scares you, then you’re not ready to be with me.”
And since her show wrapped, she's been teasing whether or not she's engaged—which doesn't say much, but presumably she wouldn't be posting light-hearted content if the show had ended badly or unexpectedly?
Who wins Katie's season?
The even bigger question! Well, we don't know for sure, but we have some hints about who gets Katie's final rose. According to Reality Steve, the final four contestants are—drum roll—
- Justin Glaze
- Greg Grippo
- Blake Moynes
- Andrew Spencer
If one of those names sounds familiar to you, it's because Moynes was a contestant on the last season of The Bachelorette, falling first for Clare Crawley and then for Tayshia Adams. (Moynes didn't show up on night one, but teaser trailers show that he'll arrive relatively early in the season.) Crawley, of course, left her own season to be with Dale Moss, leaving Moynes heartbroken—and Adams ultimately rejected him too. Meaning that Moynes is competing for Katie's heart while his ex, now happily engaged, hosts. And if he gets to the end, as Reality Steve believes he will, well, that's a lot of face time with his ex.
"I definitely knew who he was, which also Tayshia’s ex-boyfriend! So that’s weird," Thurston told Us Weekly. "We had chatted before, but usually what happens is, like, the guys will reach out to the women once they’re eliminated and be like, ‘Good luck, you did great.’ Like very generic, you know? And so to see him, I was like, ‘Why is he here?’ Like, ‘What’s happening?’”
As for the other three: Justin Glaze is an investment sales consultant and artist from Baltimore; Greg Grippo, a night one favorite who received the first impression rose and the first one-on-one date, is from New Jersey and played DII basketball in college; and Andrew Spencer is a European football player and also the cousin of Bachelor alum Clay Harbor. (Which means they might just be in Paradise together!)
Per Reality Steve: "I still do not know who won. I’ve heard quite a few things in regards to this season, but nothing I feel comfortable running with yet because I haven’t gotten the confirmation I need...I know a ton of people assume it’s Greg after [the premiere. It very well may be. I just haven’t had any solid confirmation it is or isn’t just yet."
He added after the second episode: "I've heard different names this season of who Katie is with. Now just trying to determine the right one."
It's worth noting here that a lot of former Bachelorettes end up with the final rose pick, and that episodes one and two were extremely Grippo-heavy. I'm just saying!
What else happens on Katie's season?
An early villain is Thomas Jacobs, who "ruffles some feathers" in the first few episodes, according to Reality Steve. There's also some conflict between two contestants who get into a "are you here for the right reasons" scuffle: Aaron Clancy and Cody Menk. We also know from both spoilers and previews that Katie's entire season is going to be refreshingly sex-positive, with a lot of the dates revolving around sex or intimacy in some way.
Reality Steve also shared a message from a reader that noted: "During the preview for the upcoming season we saw Katie say “I love you” when she was hugging Andrew. Do you think that was just a voiceover?" RS replied: "Unless you saw it specifically come out of someone’s mouth, which I believe that line did, then it could’ve come from anyone in any situation that wasn’t how the show presented it." Which...suggests that she did say it?
There's also a lovely-sounding guy named Michael Allio, who founded a nonprofit called L4 to support individuals with cancer in honor of his late wife, Laura. "Michael lasts long this season, but his exit I’ve been told revolves around his son," claimed Reality Steve.
In terms of Paradise, a number of Katie's contestants are thought to show up, including: Thomas Jacobs, James Bonsall, Karl Smith, and Connor Brennan (a.k.a. the cat guy).
