Photo: Katie Thurston/InstagramKatie Thurstonis “kind of” setting the record straight on her ‘12 Days of Messy’ Instagram series.On Friday, Thurston, 30, shared a video titled “12 Days of Oops” with boyfriendJohn Hersey, 27, a contestant who was eliminated during week 2 on her season ofThe Bachelorette.The couple candidly addressed the controversy surrounding their relationship and the criticism over their decision to go Instagram official in November, a month after she ended her engagement to Blake Moynes.Thurston captioned the rawclip: “Do I have regrets? Yes.““I’m gonna set the record straight on this – kind of,” she began. “John’s role I think grew, the closer we got to the last day. Initially, it was gonna be very like lighthearted. It was like, ‘Oh, we’ll just share a picture. It’ll just be a picture from the show.’ “Thurston then explained her last-minute decision to make an even bigger announcement.“I wanted to really show that to me John is my world. John is handsome. John is romantic. John is everything and I wanted to make a really big, grand gesture to show that,” she explained.“Was there a lot of hate that came with that? Yeah… it’s a hard thing to navigate.” Thurston continued, “People are always like, ‘Well, you should’ve told Blake…’ We talked about giving Blake a heads up.““But here’s the thing that people forget: We’re just normal people trying to live normal lives. And when have you ever had to tell an ex that you’re seeing someone new?” Thurston questioned.Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.The season 17Bachelorettealso admitted her regret over her Instagram series, saying it “wasn’t worth it.““I know it was very controversial and like if I could go back in time and not do the ‘12 Days of Messy,’ I would not, to be honest… It wasn’t worth it,” she said.However, Thurston made sure to defend her relationship with Hersey. “What I didn’t like is the amount of people who thought there was no way that John and I have a connection. That John is so friend zone, that it’s so sad,” she said.“I love that. That was hilarious,” chimed Hersey.Thurston concluded the clip, “All I know is in the moment I was and am still the happiest I’ve been and I wanted to make a big, grand statement about where I’m at and who I’m with. And that’s all I can do – is live my truth, live my happiness and people who wanna be there and support us great, if you don’t, that’s fine too.“RELATED VIDEO: The Bachelorette’s Katie Thurston Opens Up About Finding True Love with Fiancé Blake MoynesThe pair confirmed their relationship on thefinal day of Thurston’s Instagram series, where each day, she chose a song fromTaylor Swift’sRed (Taylor’s Version)album that reminded her of a man from her season. Ex-fiancé Moynes, who she got engaged to in her season finale, was Day 1 with “We Are Never Getting Back Together,” and Hersey was Day 12 with “Begin Again.“Thurston and Moynesended their engagementon Oct. 25. She announced her relationship with Hersey a month later.In November, Moynes broke his silence on her new relationship.“You start to think about timelines. I know they spent a lot of time together and stuff, but there’s just no way, I didn’t have an inkling,” Moynes said on an episode of theTalking It Out with Bachelor Nationpodcast.“I’m a very secure guy, a confident guy, and I give my trust out 100 percent, especially to the person I should be trusting the most.“He continued: “I really don’t think there was any physical cheating there, but there’s clearly emotional for it to transition as quickly as it did.”
Photo: Katie Thurston/Instagram

Katie Thurstonis “kind of” setting the record straight on her ‘12 Days of Messy’ Instagram series.On Friday, Thurston, 30, shared a video titled “12 Days of Oops” with boyfriendJohn Hersey, 27, a contestant who was eliminated during week 2 on her season ofThe Bachelorette.The couple candidly addressed the controversy surrounding their relationship and the criticism over their decision to go Instagram official in November, a month after she ended her engagement to Blake Moynes.Thurston captioned the rawclip: “Do I have regrets? Yes.““I’m gonna set the record straight on this – kind of,” she began. “John’s role I think grew, the closer we got to the last day. Initially, it was gonna be very like lighthearted. It was like, ‘Oh, we’ll just share a picture. It’ll just be a picture from the show.’ “Thurston then explained her last-minute decision to make an even bigger announcement.“I wanted to really show that to me John is my world. John is handsome. John is romantic. John is everything and I wanted to make a really big, grand gesture to show that,” she explained.“Was there a lot of hate that came with that? Yeah… it’s a hard thing to navigate.” Thurston continued, “People are always like, ‘Well, you should’ve told Blake…’ We talked about giving Blake a heads up.““But here’s the thing that people forget: We’re just normal people trying to live normal lives. And when have you ever had to tell an ex that you’re seeing someone new?” Thurston questioned.Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.The season 17Bachelorettealso admitted her regret over her Instagram series, saying it “wasn’t worth it.““I know it was very controversial and like if I could go back in time and not do the ‘12 Days of Messy,’ I would not, to be honest… It wasn’t worth it,” she said.However, Thurston made sure to defend her relationship with Hersey. “What I didn’t like is the amount of people who thought there was no way that John and I have a connection. That John is so friend zone, that it’s so sad,” she said.“I love that. That was hilarious,” chimed Hersey.Thurston concluded the clip, “All I know is in the moment I was and am still the happiest I’ve been and I wanted to make a big, grand statement about where I’m at and who I’m with. And that’s all I can do – is live my truth, live my happiness and people who wanna be there and support us great, if you don’t, that’s fine too.“RELATED VIDEO: The Bachelorette’s Katie Thurston Opens Up About Finding True Love with Fiancé Blake MoynesThe pair confirmed their relationship on thefinal day of Thurston’s Instagram series, where each day, she chose a song fromTaylor Swift’sRed (Taylor’s Version)album that reminded her of a man from her season. Ex-fiancé Moynes, who she got engaged to in her season finale, was Day 1 with “We Are Never Getting Back Together,” and Hersey was Day 12 with “Begin Again.“Thurston and Moynesended their engagementon Oct. 25. She announced her relationship with Hersey a month later.In November, Moynes broke his silence on her new relationship.“You start to think about timelines. I know they spent a lot of time together and stuff, but there’s just no way, I didn’t have an inkling,” Moynes said on an episode of theTalking It Out with Bachelor Nationpodcast.“I’m a very secure guy, a confident guy, and I give my trust out 100 percent, especially to the person I should be trusting the most.“He continued: “I really don’t think there was any physical cheating there, but there’s clearly emotional for it to transition as quickly as it did.”
Katie Thurstonis “kind of” setting the record straight on her ‘12 Days of Messy’ Instagram series.
On Friday, Thurston, 30, shared a video titled “12 Days of Oops” with boyfriendJohn Hersey, 27, a contestant who was eliminated during week 2 on her season ofThe Bachelorette.
The couple candidly addressed the controversy surrounding their relationship and the criticism over their decision to go Instagram official in November, a month after she ended her engagement to Blake Moynes.
Thurston captioned the rawclip: “Do I have regrets? Yes.”
“I’m gonna set the record straight on this – kind of,” she began. “John’s role I think grew, the closer we got to the last day. Initially, it was gonna be very like lighthearted. It was like, ‘Oh, we’ll just share a picture. It’ll just be a picture from the show.’ "
Thurston then explained her last-minute decision to make an even bigger announcement.
“I wanted to really show that to me John is my world. John is handsome. John is romantic. John is everything and I wanted to make a really big, grand gesture to show that,” she explained.
“Was there a lot of hate that came with that? Yeah… it’s a hard thing to navigate.” Thurston continued, “People are always like, ‘Well, you should’ve told Blake…’ We talked about giving Blake a heads up.”
“But here’s the thing that people forget: We’re just normal people trying to live normal lives. And when have you ever had to tell an ex that you’re seeing someone new?” Thurston questioned.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
The season 17Bachelorettealso admitted her regret over her Instagram series, saying it “wasn’t worth it.”
“I know it was very controversial and like if I could go back in time and not do the ‘12 Days of Messy,’ I would not, to be honest… It wasn’t worth it,” she said.
However, Thurston made sure to defend her relationship with Hersey. “What I didn’t like is the amount of people who thought there was no way that John and I have a connection. That John is so friend zone, that it’s so sad,” she said.
“I love that. That was hilarious,” chimed Hersey.
Thurston concluded the clip, “All I know is in the moment I was and am still the happiest I’ve been and I wanted to make a big, grand statement about where I’m at and who I’m with. And that’s all I can do – is live my truth, live my happiness and people who wanna be there and support us great, if you don’t, that’s fine too.”
RELATED VIDEO: The Bachelorette’s Katie Thurston Opens Up About Finding True Love with Fiancé Blake Moynes
The pair confirmed their relationship on thefinal day of Thurston’s Instagram series, where each day, she chose a song fromTaylor Swift’sRed (Taylor’s Version)album that reminded her of a man from her season. Ex-fiancé Moynes, who she got engaged to in her season finale, was Day 1 with “We Are Never Getting Back Together,” and Hersey was Day 12 with “Begin Again.”
Thurston and Moynesended their engagementon Oct. 25. She announced her relationship with Hersey a month later.
In November, Moynes broke his silence on her new relationship.
“You start to think about timelines. I know they spent a lot of time together and stuff, but there’s just no way, I didn’t have an inkling,” Moynes said on an episode of theTalking It Out with Bachelor Nationpodcast.“I’m a very secure guy, a confident guy, and I give my trust out 100 percent, especially to the person I should be trusting the most.”
He continued: “I really don’t think there was any physical cheating there, but there’s clearly emotional for it to transition as quickly as it did.”
source: people.com