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A New Year’s kiss? Katie Thurston has our full attention after her outing with Nick Uhlenhuth appeared more than friendly.
“I used to hate having a birthday so close to the New Year but now I love it! It’s this full circle moment each year that marks a brand new chapter,” the former Bachelorette, 32, wrote via Instagram on Tuesday, January 3. “Im excited to be 32 in 2023. In my gut, I just know, this is going to be one hell of a year and I’m so excited! My 2023 mantra: Watch me .”
Courtesy of Katie Thurston/Instagram
Eagle-eyed followers were quick to point out Thurston’s solo photo with Uhlenhuth, 28, alongside several group shots. The Circle alum, for his part, also shared several snaps on social media which featured Thurston.
“I couldn’t be more stoked for 2023. I truly think it’s gonna be an incredible year of personal growth and adventure. Buckle up!!! ,” the former Netflix personality captioned his Instagram upload on Monday, January 2.
According to one TikTok user, the pair shared a kiss in a photo that didn’t make it to either of their feeds.
Thurston’s potential new romance comes after her split from John Hersey. The former couple met during season 17 of The Bachelorette in 2021. At the time, the former bank marketing manager sent Hersey, 28, home during week two of the competition. Thurston later got engaged to Blake Moynes after he crashed the ABC series to win her heart.
Three months after the finale aired in July 2021, Thurston and Moynes, 32, called it quits. In November 2021, Us Weekly confirmed that the reality star moved on with Hersey.
In response to speculation about their relationship timeline, the bartender took to social media to defend his then-girlfriend.
“Katie and I developed an incredible and deep friendship over the last half year or so. The circumstances by which this friendship formed was a series of crazy, random and coincidental events, that I’m sure you will all hear about at a later time,” he wrote on Reddit that same month. “My point for now is that we were ALWAYS platonic. Even during my short stint on the season, we never had a chance to foster anything romantic (read as: John blew his chance and left the next day hahaha). The boundaries of our friendship with respect to her ongoing relationship never even required addressing, because it was never a thought in our minds that we would ever be anything more.”
Following less than one year of dating, the duo confirmed their split. “Statement: No, we aren’t together,” Thurston wrote via Instagram Story in June 2022.
Hersey also released a statement where he reflected on the breakup. “I love being able to share special moments with you all — the funny ones. The happy ones. The outrageous, embarrassing, and heartfelt ones. But I don’t know if it will ever get easier to share the sad ones. As Katie stated earlier, we are no longer dating,” he shared via Instagram Stories. “This decision was not made lightly, and it was obviously not an easy one to make.”
The California native added: “I appreciate every one of you that has supported us throughout this journey. We could not (and would not) be here without you.”