Blake Had Such A Spot-On Reaction To Greg's Fight With Katie

Someone queue up the artists currently known as The Chicks, because we’ve got a “gaslighter” on our hands. At least that’s what Bachelorette star Katie Thurston has gone on to call former front-runner Greg Grippo in the aftermath of their dramatic breakup, wherein Grippo voluntarily left the show during the penultimate episode. For the first time since the shooting wrapped, Thurston had the opportunity to address Grippo’s shocking disappearance when the two of them were reunited on “After The Final Rose,” which aired on Monday, Aug. 9. Thurston held nothing back, making certain that Grippo understood the pain and confusion that his actions had caused her — and Grippo responded defensively. But when Thurston and now-fiancé Blake Moynes sat down for an interview with Variety the following day, it was Moynes’ reaction to all the Grippo drama that really won our hearts.

“I mean, listen,” Moynes told Variety. “The way I look at it is if that’s the love of your life, you just don’t talk to her like that. You just don’t. You fight harder and he didn’t do that.”

Moynes held Thurston’s hand as he continued: “There was talking down and things. It’s hard because I try to put myself in that situation…that’s how I try to judge. And I wouldn’t have ever approached it that way, so, I just saw it as wrong.”

“I grew up in a household where that type of behavior was a constant for 17 years and I saw what that can do to my mom, in that case,” he said. “And so, it triggered me a little bit. It reminded me of a brutal past, to some degree…I hope that Katie knows that she’ll never have to hear that from me.”

Moynes had a front-row seat to difficult relationships from a young age; his parents separated early. Consequently, he was raised by his mother, Emily Moynes, who has said on Instagram that she’s lived through two “painful divorces.” She now runs her own company, Rebuild A Kick-Ass Life, and specializes in coaching women as they heal from toxic relationships, no doubt imparting some wisdom to her son about mature ways to behave in relationships.

Moynes proposed to Thurston at the end of the season finale, which also aired on Monday, with a glittering three-carat oval-shaped sparkler ring set within a crown motif and a hidden halo of 90 smaller diamonds, hand-selected with the help of Bachelor Nation’s go-to jeweler, Neil Lane.

Now that the Grippo dust is settling, Thurston and Moynes are basking in the glow of their engagement — and are sincere in wanting only the best for Grippo as he moves on with this life, too. “I think all I can do is support Greg and his journey for healing and whatever it is that he’s going through,” Thurston told Variety. “Ultimately [Greg’s choice to leave] helped both of us make the right decision [...] And I ended up with exactly who I’m supposed to be with.”