Who Is The Bachelor's Katie Thurston?

The Bachelor's Katie Thurston certainly has a knack for shocking people into paying attention to her. Case in point? The adult toy she handed over to Matt James during The Bachelor premiere, per The Hollywood Gossip. The respectably-sized toy also caught the attention of James, who couldn't help cracking up. "This pandemic was really hard for me and this just really got me through a lot, and I was hoping to pass the torch to you," Thurston said.

The 30-year-old announced to her respectable Instagram following earlier this year that she'd officially reached "the blind date stage" of her life, "where people are like concerned about me and actively searching on my behalf." But she doesn't seem too concerned about it herself. Nor is she willing to settle. Instead, as Thurston affirms on her ABC profile, she knows "wants in a man and is done wasting her time on boys who won't live up to her expectations." Preach, girl. 

Katie Thurston makes a living as a bank marketing manager, according to her Bachelor bio. But, as of 2020, she's recently gone viral on TikTok, amassing over 244,000 followers to date, for something else: her very frank, very adult life-related commentary. Her TikTok adventures seem to be a transition for the Bachelor contestant. "If I died tomorrow, I wouldn't be happy with what I've accomplished. I followed 'the rules' of life. Get the career. Save the money. Start that 401k. Buy the house. And for what? An entire decade to pass without feeling fulfilled?" she reflected on Instagram on the eve of her 30th birthday, "This past year, I finally unapologetically loved who I am. I lost people along the way. And that's ok. We aren't meant to please everyone."

Is Thurston's TikTok channel for you? Sure, if you're into blunt insights into what she does when sexting, or looking for advice about one night stands (either "a. go back to sleep with your clothes on so you can make an easy escape," or "put all your things including your keys and clothes in a nice little pile, so that you're not stuck crawling on the ground naked like I was").

We haven't been able to suss out much inside information into Katie Thurston's love life before The Bachelor (other than, of course, her love for her cat), but we do know how her first kiss went down. "I've never been with a girl," Thurston admits in a TikTok video that she posted to Instagram, "but I will say that my first make out was with a girl and it was a friend, and she was helping me with some pointers because I had never kissed a guy like that and I was scared I was going to be really bad, and so being the good friend that she is, we made out."

Since her first kiss and today, Thurston's evolved. She's no longer worried about how she'll kiss, she's worried about how her date will live up to her standards. To quote her ABC profile, "nothing turns her off more than someone who sits around playing video games all day or a man who tries to kiss her at the inopportune moment . . . it's all about creating the right vibe with Katie!"

On her Bachelor bio, Katie Thurston wrote that her "idea of a fun date is going skinny-dipping," and that she "once planned a dog flash mob that got a huge turnout." She also isn't afraid to admit that her idea of a good time is "tak[ing] a nap on Sunday," and "eat[ing] so much that you fall into a food coma."

But don't let her goofy side (or her love for sparkly jackets) fool you. Katie Thurston is looking for "a mature man who has ambitions to succeed in everything he does." And she's not afraid to go the distance to make sure she has the right people in her life. Remember Marie Kondo's decluttering mantra: does it spark joy? "I like to also apply it to people," Thurston admits. She's taken to asking: "Does this person spark joy in your life? Is there a reason they can continue to be in your life?" No? "Then f***ing throw that s*** in the dumpster," Thurston suggests.