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The Bachelorette's Katie Thurston Is Ready to Talk About Sex, Baby

In an exclusive interview with E! News, Katie Thurston says her season of The Bachelorette will feature never-before-had conversations on sex and a whole lot of heartbreak.

By Lauren Piester Jun 07, 2021 7:28 PMTags
Watch: Katie Thurston Calls "Bachelorette" Season 17 "Refreshing"

Things are getting sexy on The Bachelorette this season.

That shouldn't be a surprise given the fact that its star, Katie Thurston, showed up on the last season of The Bachelor with a sparkly purple vibrator. This is a girl who is not afraid to talk about sex, and who is ready to continue to have "some conversations that haven't happened before." 

"The biggest one and the most important one [is the conversation] around sex, whether they're humorous conversations or important conversations," she tells E! News in the video above. "Sex is a theme during the season and I'm excited for people to start feeling comfortable talking about it and starting those conversations." 

Sex is obviously not a new topic for the Bachelor franchise, especially in recent years, after Colton Underwood's many discussions of virginity and Hannah Brown's faith-themed saga. But no star has ever kicked off their time in the franchise with a sex toy before, and Katie's also got the benefit of advice from mentor and former Bachelorette Kaitlyn Bristowe, who spent a fair amount of her season dealing with slut-shaming.

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"[Kaitlyn] was there from start to finish to give me advice, and the one thing that her and I both agreed on is we are in 2021, so people are starting to be a little bit more open and a little more comfortable, but there are still people who view it as a crime, a stigma, a taboo," Katie explains. "So I'm just kind of reinserting that back into the conversation and on the screens, and hoping people start those conversations." 

Katie says she isn't afraid of letting her friends and family watch the season, partly because they're more open than she is sometimes. But no matter what, she's not letting anyone join her watch parties.

"I mean, single or engaged, I would be watching this alone," she says. "I can't watch it with my family or my friends, seeing myself make out with all these guys. I just need to be alone and embrace it and process it myself." 

ABC/Craig Sjodin

Katie admits "without hesitation" that she falls in love with more than one person, and so we should all prepare ourselves to watch some hearts get broken. 

We should also get ready to see Katie talk about her cat, Tommy. Katie describes herself as a crazy cat lady, which means that not only is she thrilled when a rogue cat makes a surprise appearance during our interview, she can also be easily won over by any man who embraces that side of her. You'll see what we mean after the premiere!

In the meantime, hit play above to hear Katie weigh in on her season and to watch a cat try to get in on the action.

The Bachelorette airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on ABC.

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