A not-so-friendly reunion. Katie Thurston and Greg Grippo came face-to-face for the first time since their dramatic split during the Monday, August 9, finale of The Bachelorette.
Cohosts Kaitlyn Bristowe and Tayshia Adams were quick to point out the tension when Katie, 30, didn’t hug or embrace Greg, 28, when she joined him on stage.
“I don’t even know where to start. I was watching from the back. I never felt that you actually intended to probably ever get engaged in that journey together,” Katie said after Kaitlyn, 36, gave her the floor. “You’re saying that I’m not validating you enough but it’s, like, you got the first impression rose, you got the first one-on-one, a second one-on-one. Every single group date — and in the moment, I’m not realizing this, but I’m watching it back — I’m giving you validation every single week. And for that hometown to go as perfectly as it did until the very end, and for you to do a 180, I feel like you were looking for the perfect opportunity to escape because you were never ready for an engagement.”
When Greg said he was “confused” as to why Katie would think that, she continued, “I fill a hole in your heart, yet you treated me the way you did. You spoke down to me. You didn’t even bother to say goodbye. You say you love me, but I don’t think you even know what love is because that was a time I needed you the most and you ran away.”
After receiving the first impression rose and emerging as the front-runner on Katie’s season, Greg quit the show during the August 2 episode, accusing the former banking manager of dismissing his feelings.
“I expressed that I do love you. I felt like I was telling that to a stranger,” Greg said after the tense end to his hometown date. “This whole entire time has felt like Katie to me, and that night, I was thinking that I was expressing my love to my future wife, and you didn’t even feel it. You just completely dismissed it in my eyes. … As much as it hurts me, I’ve reached my breaking point with this. I gave you everything. I really hope you find something.”
At the time, Katie noted she was “shaking” and “didn’t see” her relationship with Greg ending this way.
“I’m telling you everything and you still won’t even believe me! I’m losing you,” she replied. “I’m losing my mind here! This whole thing feels like [it’s] for nothing if you leave.”
While Katie threatened to leave the show after Greg walked away for good, she ultimately stayed and got engaged to Blake Moynes, sending home Justin Glaze during Monday’s finale.
After the Bachelor season 25 alum watched her split with Greg air on August 2, she implied via Instagram that he was gaslighting her during their fight and she doubled down on the claim during AFR.
Scroll through for the biggest takeaways from their reunion: