‘The Bachelorette’: Nick Viall Says Katie Thurston Spoke to This Contestant Before the Show

The latest season of The Bachelorette kicked off in early June. But, before Katie Thurston even met the contestants who would be competing for her heart, she spoke with one of them online. According to former Bachelor star Nick Viall, who appeared in the most recent episode of The Bachelorette, Thurston spoke with Blake Moynes, who is due to join the show later on in the season.

During his time on Us Weekly‘s Here for the Right Reasons podcast, Viall said that he “doesn’t know the back story” about how Moynes joined the season. Although, he did say that Thurston and Moynes chatted before he joined the filming process. Viall explained, “It sounds like there was some dialogue between Katie and Blake. I don’t think it was to the degree that it was with [me and] Kaitlyn [Bristowe].” He added that the two situations are different, adding, “[For us], it was like a pretty intense, you know, two months of dialogue, but I do think Blake will go far.” Fans might recall that Bristowe and Viall were in communication with one another before he joined her season of The Bachelorette, which aired in 2015. He was the runner-up on the season, with Bristowe giving her final rose to her now-ex-fiancé, Shawn Booth.

Like Viall, Moynes is set to join this season of The Bachelorette after already having contact with the lead. But, it’s not as though this is a fact that Thurston is trying to keep mum. In early June, the Bachelorette star told Us Weekly that she spoke with Moynes before the season began. Moynes appeared on the most recent season of The Bachelorette, dating both of the season’s leads — Clare Crawley and Tayshia Adams, the latter of whom is co-hosting the current season of the reality show alongside Bristowe.

“I definitely knew who he was, which also Tayshia’s ex-boyfriend! So that’s weird,” Thurston said “We had chatted before, but usually what happens is, like, the guys will reach out to the women once they’re eliminated and be like, ‘Good luck, you did great.’ Like very generic, you know? And so to see him, I was like, ‘Why is he here?’ Like, ‘What’s happening?’” As for whether Thurston and Moynes will be able to make a connection outside of their online chatter, fans will just have to stay tuned.