Katie Thurston shares heartbreaking news on Valentine's Day

Katie Thurston, who was on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, has revealed that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Thurston announced the news on Saturday via Instagram.

“Life update: I have breast cancer. Yesterday I saw all the couples post their Valentines Day celebrations. I felt envious if I’m being honest,” she captioned the post.

“Jeff took me to Hawaii and after, we were going to travel the world before planting roots together in NYC finally. But instead, my Vday was spent coordinating a place to live as I have to go back to LA for more testing and treatment.”

She continued by describing how she met with her team to develop a chemotherapy strategy and spent the holiday making medical visits. Since learning, Thurston said, she has gone through a range of emotions, including "denial," but connecting with other women who have gone through similar experiences has been helpful.

“One thing I did early on was search other stories like mine. Other young women with breast cancer. Invasive ductal carcinoma. Mastectomy. Pregnancy after breast cancer. All of their stories helped. So I intend to be the same for others,” she wrote.

“This is day one of sharing and is going to be a long one. This first step of acceptance of my reality was the hardest. But I am ready to fight this.”

She concluded by thanking her fiancé, comedian Jeff Arcuri, for his support: “I don’t know how I’d do this without you.”

Thurston stated on one of her Saturday Instagram Stories that she is "waiting on learning what stage" she is in and that she intends to have another biopsy to learn more. She added that no one in her family had ever had breast cancer.

In 2021, Thurston debuted on the Matt James season of The Bachelor, but he was ousted in the sixth week. She accepted Blake Moynes' proposal and became the host of The Bachelorette later that year. But a few months after the finale, they called it quits. Last year, she and Arcuri became engaged.