Before we start reveling in the trashy, tequila-soaked oasis known as Bachelor in Paradise, one bit of housekeeping from Katie Thurston’s spectacularly bland Bachelorette season finale: She’s thought about it, and yeah, her verbal smackdown with Greg Grippo kind of unfolded like Gene Cousineau’s classes in Barry. In a new interview with Variety, Thurston admitted that she came into their “After the Final Rose†sit-down with “very fresh†breakup emotions, which spurred a far more combative approach than a typical Bachelorette ending. “I did come down hard and I did have a lot of anger,†she, an engaged woman, explained. “If I have the opportunity to talk to someone who hurt me, I’m going to.â€
When asked if she believed Grippo was acting during his time on the show, Thurston, perhaps sensing the changing social-media tide of viewers’ perceptions of her, deflected from reiterating her more hardened finale stance. “It’s hard to say,†she offered. “He was in acting school — take that for what you want. Ultimately, it helped both of us make the right decision in terms of him leaving and me staying. And I ended up with exactly who I’m supposed to be with.†Thurston previously said on “After the Final Rose†that Grippo was a “pretty good†actor, “until the end when you kind of fucked it up and ran away.†Again, this woman is alleging to be happily engaged.