May 20, 2021 • bachelor insider
Katie's 'Bachelorette' Journey 'Wouldn't Have Been Possible' Without the Support of Kaitlyn & Tayshia
Gotta love girl power! Before her search for love airs this summer, Season 17 Bachelorette Katie Thurston is sharing her gratitude for the support of former franchise leads Kaitlyn Bristowe and Tayshia Adams.
Katie took to Instagram on Wednesday to share a photo with Kaitlyn and Tayshia from their time filming in New Mexico, toasting each other with glasses of champagne.
“This journey wouldn’t have been possible without the love, support, and sisterhood of @kaitlynbristowe and @tayshia and I’m forever thankful for them!” Katie captioned the sweet snapshot. “We laughed. We cried. Plenty of advice was given paired with many, many, hugs.”
She added, “And the female energy was strong! We love women supporting women. CHEERS! To love!”
As Bachelor Nation is well aware, Kaitlyn — who led “The Bachelorette” Season 11 in 2015 — and Tayshia — who led “The Bachelorette” Season 16 in 2020 — acted as mentors for Katie throughout her journey.
Both Kaitlyn and Tayshia recently shared the advice they gave Katie as she handed out roses to her handsome suitors. (Learn more about Katie’s men by reading their “Bachelorette” bios here.)
“[I always say] to be authentic to who you are,” Kaitlyn said during an interview with HollywoodLife earlier this month. “There’s a lot of pressure from the world watching, and a lot of times you get in your head about what they would want to see and how it might be portrayed, but you can’t let that drive the narrative of the story. It has to be truly authentic to yourself and how you’re feeling, no matter who you’re going to piss off.”
On the May 7 episode of “Click Bait,” Tayshia told co-hosts Joe Amabile and Natasha Parker that she offered Katie similar guidance.
“Don’t try to control the narrative because it never really works out for you when you’re trying to control every twist and turn," she said. “It’s not very natural for you to be navigating 20 to 30 relationships at one time, so this is the one time where you do have people kind of having your best interests [at heart] and trying to take care of that for you.”
“The Bachelorette” Season 17 premieres Monday, June 7, on ABC at 8 p.m. ET.
