Blake and Katie got engaged on Monday night's finale of 'The Bachelorette.'
Katie Thurston's fiancé didn't enjoy seeing her confrontation with her ex. ET's Rachel Smith spoke to Katie and Blake Moynes on Tuesday, one day after America saw them get engaged on the finale of The Bachelorette, and the couple reacted to the one downside of their otherwise dream-like night.
In the penultimate episode of the season, Greg Grippo walked out on Katie after a dramatic argument, which began when she didn't react the way he'd hoped to his declaration of love.
The fallout continued into the finale, when Katie questioned if she should leave the show after Greg's exit. Even as he watched his fiancée's doubts air, Blake didn't question a single aspect of their relationship.
"It was a combination of things," Blake said. "Katie told me everything prior, all the details, every little conversation, so I wasn’t going in blind to anything. Aside from that, I came on the season very, very confident. The first time I met her I had zero doubts and when I left here I literally had zero doubts."
"If you didn’t have the confidence, I think that would be a tough thing to watch. I knew it was going to be me, it was supposed to be me, so as much as those things can be cringey at times to watch, I’m also very understanding of the position she’s in and being empathetic of, 'What would I do in that situation?'" he continued. "I probably would have done a lot of the same things, so I can’t be mad at her for that."
Katie did decide to continue, and ultimately wound up engaged to the wildlife manager. Before they could make their public debut on After the Final Rose, though, Katie had to face her ex.
The conversation was anything but cordial, as Katie accused Greg of gaslighting her and Greg fired back with accusations that she focused more on being the Bachelorette than him as a person.
"People don’t understand that you’re allowed to be in love and happy, but still be angry with how someone treated you," Katie told ET. "In the moment with Greg, I was very sad and I felt like it was my fault. And then watching it back, I was angry."
"This was the first time I got to see Greg and kind of address the anger that I had," she continued. "In terms of closure with my emotions for Greg, that’s not there. I’m very happy. But people do need to recognize that you’re entitled to your emotions and your anger. When you have the opportunity to speak up on them, I’m going to."
Speak up Katie did, and it's a decision she hopes will help people to look at how they're treated in their relationships.
"It was just a very heavy topic in general," she said. "I am glad to get that closure that I needed, but also to have these conversations that everyone is talking about around what it means to have a healthy relationship with your partner."
Katie believes all of the drama with Greg led her to Blake, the person she was always meant to be with.
"I do think I still would’ve ended up with Blake [had Greg not left]," Katie said. "I remember the daytime portion with Greg still seemed a little bit off. I was already starting to kind of have my doubts, and then with how things went [that night] it just kind of solidified where my thinking was initially anyway. No matter what, had Greg stayed, I still would’ve chosen Blake."
Now that all that drama is behind them, Katie and Blake are excited to travel to Blake's native Canada for a few days, before they spend the next period of time bouncing between Canada, Katie's new city of San Diego, California, and Africa, where Blake frequently works.
"We’re just going to essentially take turns, chunks at a time. There’s times where I’m going to be in Canada for a period, he’ll come to San Diego. If it allows, I’ll go with him to Africa and join him on the things he’s working on," Katie explained. "Sometimes we will have to be apart, but we’re just not really ready to put roots anywhere, so we kind of have this luxury of getting to be in multiple countries."
Something that's not happening anytime soon is wedding planning.
"We know there’s going to be one, but we have so many other things to handle, including the fact that we are citizens of other countries," Katie said. "There’s a lot of hurdles we really need to figure out, way before we can even think about a wedding date. That’s just not even on the top of our mind at the moment."
No matter where life takes them, Katie said, "I’m just excited to experience life with him."
Tune in to Tuesday's episode of Entertainment Tonight for more of ET's interview with Katie and Blake.
Katie Thurston's season of The Bachelorette has officially wrapped. Check out all of ET's coverage of her dramatic finale, before Bachelor Nation's focus turns to Bachelor in Paradise on Aug. 16 and Michelle Young's season of The Bachelorette on Oct. 19.
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