Bachelor Nation fans weren't the only ones shocked by news of Katie Thurston and John Hersey's budding romance—so was Katie's ex-fiancé, Blake Moynes.
Just one day after it was confirmed that Katie and John—who served as a contestant that was sent home in the second week during Katie's season of The Bachelorette—were officially dating, Blake opened up about hearing the news.
"Everyone's asking me questions like I have the answers," Blake said on the Nov. 24 episode of the Talking It Out With Bachelor Nation podcast. "I don't. I have no idea. When everyone heard this, I heard the exact same thing. There was speculation, I think, obviously. But I really thought there was no way. Just based on timeline."
A source told E! News on Nov. 23 after Katie and former contestant John "were mutually in the friend zone for months," that things changed within the past few weeks, adding that she "has never been happier." News of the newly linked couple comes almost a month after Katie and Blake announced the end of their engagement.
"That's what I have a hard time processing, I think," he continued. Referring to Katie's recent Instagram challenge where she compared her exes to Taylor Swift songs, Blake added, "Just because, you know, the ‘12 Days of Messy,' that I didn't sign up for, but was attached to. Just like all the other guys. You know, it started 12 days ago—I'm sure that she probably knew who day twelve was and who it was gonna be and why."
For reference, Katie celebrated the last day of the challenge by dedicating Taylor's single, "Begin Again," to John.
"So, I try to think about the breakup happening when it did roughly a month ago," Blake shared. "Naturally, you start to think about timelines, ‘Okay, well, I know they spent a lot of time together and stuff, but like, there's just no way.' I never had an inkling. I'm just a very secure guy, very confident guy and I give my trust out a hundred percent, especially to the person who I should be trusting the most."
Katie and Blake got engaged during the unforgettable finale of season 17, which aired in August. The two subsequently announced their split in a joint statement shared in late October.
However, although Blake discussed the thought of "timelines," he clarified that he doesn't think Katie crossed the line—in a sense.
"I really don't think there was any physical cheating there," he said. "But there's clearly emotional for it to transition as quickly as it did. I feel stupid and foolish for allowing it to happen, I guess to some degree. And I don't know if it was partially me too. Was she, in some sense, emotionally cheating to a degree because I wasn't able to provide something with words of affirmation, which I know I struggle with sometimes? I just have so many things I'm trying to figure out why it went wrong. Why it transitioned so quickly into a new relationship."
Added Blake, "I didn't see this coming, you know."