Warning: Potential SPOILERS on board for Season 17 of The Bachelorette with Katie Thurston!
Well, Bachelor Nation. It's been a long few months, hasn't it? Luckily, we are still in the midst of a much needed break, so that we an enjoy as many palate cleansers as possible and be ready to dive back into the rose-filled journey of Katie Thurston when she heads up Season 17 of The Bachelorette at the beginning of June. And, while the combined season which saw both Clare Crawley and Tayshia Adams find love was certainly a doozy, it sounds as though Katie might just be our most decisive Bachelorette yet!
Katie Thurston certainly, by most accounts, acquitted herself well during her time on Matt James' season of The Bachelor, and gained a lot of fans with her vibrator-happy vibes and willingness to stand up for the other women. Even though it's fair to say that we've never had a pushover lead The Bachelorette, it seems as though Katie goes the extra mile when it comes to knowing what she wants and taking charge, because Us Weekly is reporting that filming for the season was able to wrap a whole week early because of Katie's decision-making prowess when it came to her suitors.
According to an unnamed source with close ties to the production, Katie knew exactly what she was looking for in the men chosen for her season, and didn't hesitate to make the moves she needed to, and noted:
Katie was in control and made sure the men she wanted were there and the men she wasn’t interested in, she sent packing.
Well. I don't think any of us can fault Katie for this, can we? Of course, Clare definitely did something similar, with results that may yet work out well for her, but it caused a bit more of a mess than she probably thought.
Luckily, it sounds as though Katie used a bit of a different tactic than Clare did. She simply spent plenty of time with the men she was really interested in pursuing, while making sure the guys she wasn't as interested in, or who had shown themselves to have qualities she didn't want or need, weren't kept around just in case. This does seem like the kind of strong, determined personality that the producers were hoping to have in the rose-giving position when they decided to choose Katie to lead The Bachelorette Season 17.
Matt's season of The Bachelor was a big let down for a lot of fans, and one of the reasons for that was the amount of mean-spirited bullying which went on between some of the women who were cast on his season. Though this did start nearly immediately, it was made worse by the decision to bring in a new batch of women many days in, when a lot of women from the original group were still left.
Katie spoke out against the bullying several times, and became a fan favorite for being willing to put herself in the line of fire for others. One of these bullied newcomers, Michelle Young, ended up becoming one of Matt's Final 3, and also ended up being a fan favorite, so she will actually be leading her own season of The Bachelorette, scheduled to air in the fall after Bachelor in Paradise is done.
It sounds like Katie will a no-nonsense joy to watch on Season 17 of The Bachelorette, and we can all do that when her episodes begin airing on ABC, June 7, at 8 p.m. EST.
