The Bachelorette came to an end Monday night with Katie Thurston and Blake Moynes taking their relationship public as an engaged couple. The episode began with Katie still recovering from Greg Grippo abruptly leaving the show. The front-runner left after he felt Katie was dismissing his feelings and finally reached his breaking point. While Katie was hurt by Greg's sudden departure, she had feelings for both Justin and Blake and decided it was best to move forward with the fantasy suite dates.
Blake's one-on-one was first with the couple having a paint balloon fight. Later, they sipped champagne together in a hot tub while Katie told Blake about all the drama from the past few weeks, including Michael Allio and Greg's departures. She admitted to him, at first, she wanted to quit the show. Nonetheless, Blake still expressed his feelings to Katie by telling her he loved her, to which Katie reciprocated back. At that moment, Katie realized she didn't want to pursue a relationship with Justin anymore.
On Monday, Katie and Blake came out on the After The Final Rose stage after getting engaged in the final episode (via Us Weekly). The couple immediately hit it off after Blake joined the competition as they share similar personalities and their stances on sex-positivity. "I just had this crazy, weird intuition and feeling that we would hit it off because we’re so similar," Blake detailed to cohost Tayshia Adams and Kaitlyn Bristowe during AFR. "It was just wild how it all kind of spiraled out of control in the best way." The newly engaged couple did speak briefly prior to filming, but Katie never thought anything serious would come of their short interaction. Despite her connection with Blake, viewers believed it was game over for the former bank marketing manager after she laid eyes on Greg.
After Greg departed, she moved on, and after her fantasy suite date Blake, she knew he was the one all along. "I think everyone can agree that this is exactly who I was supposed to be with," she revealed on the aftershow. "He fought to be here for me and chose to stay [...] he was confident enough to hold both of us till the end, I’m just so lucky. I love him so much." While Katie had a great deal of love for Greg, she knew after Blakes's hometown date that he's exactly what she was looking for. "Definitely my feelings were growing, and I knew each time we saw each other [...] it was just so easy. Like, we picked up right where we left off," she recalled. "We are not even the same couple that you guys just saw [...], and we’re just really excited to start our lives together."
Now that Katie's season of The Bachelorette has come to an end, she and her fiancé Blake can finally be open about their love. The couple has been through a lot the past few months and is ready to enjoy life in public rather than in private. With her season down, fans are excited for Michelle Young's season to begin.
Sources: Us Weekly