Weeks later, she doubled-down. “The original spoiler I reported seems to be correct. Katie Thurston is set to be announced as the ‘Bachelorette’ in the coming days,” he tweeted days after the Women Tell All special aired. No shame to Katie, who has quietly emerged as a fan-favorite with her no-nonsense attitude, defense against the dark bullying in the household, sex-positive outlook and bundles of empathy, but we’re not buying it just yet. If spoilers are true, and Thurston is eliminated at the top 10, she will beat Brown and former BachelorJuan Pablo Galavisto be the first lead not to be eliminated at top 6. And after Galavis’ season, it felt unlikely they would choose another lead that hadn’t gone very far and developed a relationship both with the production team and America. Thurston’s rumored elimination is why we listed her as extremely unlikely to be next season’s Bachelorette. But 2020 told us over and over again things are “unprecedented”, so why wouldn’t The Bachelor/ette continue with shaking things up? Oldest Bachelorette, second Black Bachelorette, first Black Bachelor…a lead who didn’t make it very far could easily be next on the list. You never know. However, this Bachelorette news wasn’t just news to us—it was news to Thurston, as well. She took to Instagram Stories Sunday afternoon to reveal that if she’s the Bachelorette, we knew before she did. “Reading my texts this morning like News to me,” Thurston captioned a selfie, adding a shrug emoji while shrugging herself. While fans were excited to hear about Thurston as the lead, they also are holding out hopes for another possibility, maybe in fellow contestants Abigail Heringer or Michelle Young. But watch this space—someone’s got it very right, and someone’s got it very, very wrong, and we’re all floating in the in-between. Need more? Prep for the next season of Bachelor in Paradise.
