‘I WANT TO FEEL HOT’

‘Bachelorette’ Star Defends Plastic Surgery Amid Stage 4 Cancer Battle

The 35-year-old dating show contestant said she’s faced “a lot of judgment” since announcing her procedure.

An alum of The Bachelorette is defending her choice to undergo cosmetic surgery while battling cancer.

Katie Thurston, star of season 17 of the ABC reality dating competition, faced online backlash after revealing she underwent a deep plane neck lift in September. She replied to the criticism in an interview with Us Weekly, published on Oct. 22.

“I got a lot of judgment from people that were like, ‘Well, you have stage IV cancer. You should be happy to be alive,’” Thurston recalled. “Like, I’m also 35, a newlywed. I want to feel hot, OK?”

Thurston married comedian Jeff Arcuri, 39, in March 2025.

The couple, who met via social media in March 2024, moved up their wedding because of Thurston’s upcoming cancer treatments.

“It’s my life, my body, and I think that’s a big thing I’ve also learned,” Thurston said. “It’s so easy to criticize somebody else, but you never know what they’re going through or how they’re feeling. I’ve really learned, ‘Hey, if it makes them happy, then I’m happy for them.’”

In a September Instagram post, Thurston said she wanted to undergo the “intensive” procedure to liposuction fat from under her chin and lift the skin to address a long-time insecurity about her side profile.

Thurston, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2025, said that her decision to undergo plastic surgery was related to her cancer treatments.

“I’ve had so many medical procedures—like biopsies, my breasts have been removed, like so much—I was like, ‘You know what? I’m gonna do this because I want to, and just because I have a diagnosis doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to want to be pretty and feel good about myself,’” she said.

Thurston originally became a reality star when she competed for Matt James’s heart on season 25 of The Bachelor in 2021.

After she was eliminated on week 6, she became the Bachelorette that same year. She left her season engaged to Blake Moynes, but the couple called it quits later that year.

She told her followers about her stage 3 breast cancer diagnosis in a February 2025 social media post.

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In March, 43 days after her initial diagnosis, she said in another post: “Unfortunately, I did find out today that my breast cancer has spread to the liver. It is fairly small; however, that does put me at Stage 4.”

Thurston underwent a double mastectomy with implants at the end of April this year.

On October 16, Thurston revealed during an emotional speech at the Breast Cancer Research Foundation’s 2026 Symposium & Awards Luncheon in New York City that there was “no evidence of disease.”

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Roosa RahkonenReporter, The Looker

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