- Insider spoke with former Bachelorette
Ali Fedotowsky about Matt James' season of "The Bachelor ." - She praised now-Bachelorette Katie Thurston for letting James know what was going on in the house.
- Thurston's season of "
The Bachelorette " starts Monday, June 7.
Katie Thurston's season of "The Bachelorette" is set to kick off on Monday, after she was eliminated relatively early on in Matt James' season of "The Bachelor." Over the course of the season, Thurston emerged as one of the lone women who called out the immense amount of bullying and toxicity among the women. She also did something that's typically seen as a no-no: She told James, the lead, what exactly was going on in the house.
Insider spoke with Ali Fedotowsky - a former "Bachelorette" lead herself and contestant on Jake Pavelka's season of "The Bachelor" - while she was promoting her new line of hair accessories designed with scünci. Fedotowsky gave it up for Thurston, and she said she hopes more women on the show are encouraged to be like Thurston - especially now that she was rewarded with an entire season herself.
"I have to give a shout out, raise the roof, scream to the hills, shout out to [Thurston] for just being so amazing and standing up against bullying," she told Insider in February. "Who thought the girl that showed up with the vibrator would be so awesome?"
During the season, there was generally a culture of bullying, slut-shaming, sex-worker shaming, toxic behavior, and insecurity that stood out to even the most long-time "Bachelor" fans. Five new women were brought in a few episodes into the season, sending the original contestants into a frenzy. One of these women, Anna Redman, took it upon herself to spread a (false) rumor that one of the new women, Brittany Galvin, was "having a transactional relationship with wealthy men" - aka, that she was an escort or some other type of sex worker.
Once this rumor was brought to Thurston's attention, she (one of the only women who wasn't openly bullying the new women) went to James and told him that there were rumors being spread that could potentially ruin people's lives, and that there was generally a toxic environment among the women. Normally, this is frowned upon - it's seen as "snitching" or tattling to the lead. However, Fedotowsky has a different opinion.
"What I really love about what [Thurston] did is, I feel like in past seasons, it's always been very taboo," she said.
"Even when somebody would go talk to the Bachelor or Bachelorette, there'd be [ominous] music playing in the background. Whereas this time it wasn't that way. It wasn't edited to feel that way and it didn't feel that way. It felt like Katie doing the right thing. She didn't go to Matt to try to benefit her relationship in any way. She basically said, 'What's happening here is going to ruin people's lives, and I don't stand for that,'" she continued.
"It wasn't about her. It wasn't about even her and Matt. It was about the other women and her standing up to the other women. And that was all it was. And I love that and I hope that that set the precedent for future seasons, for other women to stand up against bullying. And hopefully we won't see so much of what we are seeing this season in future seasons," Fedotowsky said.
She wasn't alone - many fans also applauded Thurston for doing the right thing.
-jackie (@jackiee_dimmick) February 9, 2021
-gutter girl (@2yung2yoyo) January 26, 2021
Now Thurston has been named the next "Bachelorette" - and she can count at least one former lead as a fan.