After a clip of Joe Amabile shading Katie Thurston and Blake Moynes’ joint breakup statement surfaced online, the Bachelor in Paradise alum is setting the record straight about his feelings on the Bachelorette season 17 split.
“I’m sure that was taken out of context. It was just a joke, and it was a funny one,” Amabile, 35, told Us Weekly exclusively while promoting his partnership with Hotwire. “I actually said it on [the] ‘Clickbait’ [podcast] as well. Sometimes I tell funny jokes, what am I gonna do?”
When the reality TV personality and fiancée Serena Pitt appeared at the “Chicks in the Office” live show in Chicago earlier this month, Amabile poked fun at Thurston and Moynes’ split announcement, asking future Bachelor couples to be more honest in breakup posts.
“I just want a couple in Bachelor Nation to break up and just be like, ‘We mutually f—king hate each other. We hate each other, thank you for all the love and support, but the past six months have been terrible,’” he quipped. “If [Serena and I] breakup, like, it’s going to get ugly, like, we’re going to talk s—t and ‘f—k you.’”
Pitt, 24, assured the crowd that the pair were solid, but agreed with her fiancé.
“We’re engaged, we’re in love, we plan to spend the rest of our lives together, it’s not going to be a small hiccup, like, it’s going to be ugly or something huge that breaks us up,” Pitt explained, adding, “Hopefully that doesn’t that happen.”
Thurston, 30, and Moynes, 31, announced their split on October 25 via the same statement on Instagram: “It is with mutual love and respect that we have decided to go our separate ways. We are so grateful for the moments we shared together and the entire journey that has unfolded this year, but we ultimately have concluded that we are not compatible as life partners, and it is the most caring choice for both of us to move forward independently. We ask for kindness and privacy as we both navigate this transition. Both of us will forever want the best for one another and ask you to please support us in our decision.”
Amabile, for his part, told Us that he is rooting for both of them.
“I think whatever is best for them individually is what they need to do at this time,” he concluded. “I’m gonna give them their space, obviously, and I hope nothing but the best for them.”
In the meantime, Amabile is focused on Hotwire’s Love at Last Minute contest, which is open until Friday, November 5.
“We are looking for couples that met during quarantine and haven’t had a chance to take a trip together. There’s a poll, like, 74 percent of Americans said traveling is the best compatibility test and I actually believe that myself,” he explained. “So I have picked the cities — Charleston, Atlanta, and my hometown, Chicago — and we are choosing three couples that we think could potentially go the distance to win these trips. All they have to do is go to quickie.hotwire.com and send them a video showing off themselves basically. … And after that trip, we’re going to reevaluate and if we think one of the couples or all three of them could go the distance, they will win a $10,000 fancy trip on Hotwire.”
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