Weddings
‘Bachelorette’s Katie Thurston & Jeff Arcuri Get Married After Her Breast Cancer Diagnosis
Katie Thurston had some exciting news to share just over a month after receiving her breast cancer diagnosis. The Bachelorette alum married Jeff Arcuri on Saturday, March 22, Us Weekly confirmed.
The couple tied the knot in an intimate ceremony that took place in their backyard. The nuptials happened just five days before Thurston is set to begin her cancer treatment. She is undergoing a trial treatment, which could involve several rounds of chemotherapy, before having surgery to remove her tumor.
Thurston and Arcuri got engaged at the end of August 2024 after less than four months of dating. Although they were “wanting to plan a wedding,” Thurston’s cancer diagnosis changed everything. Arcuri spilled the beans about the nuptials in an interview with Us Weekly two days before he and Thurston tied the knot.
“There’s a lot of emotions that come in with chemo and the impact and the health and we don’t know what the next year looks like,” Thurston added. “And one night he said, ‘I want to show you that I still love you and that I’m here to stay. I’ll get married to you tomorrow.’ We flew our parents in from Michigan and Washington State. We got our marriage license and a friend is just gonna marry us.”
They plan to have a bigger ceremony once Thurston beats cancer, but Arcuri said he wants to be able to call the former reality star his “wife” while she’s undergoing treatment. “There’s more power to that,” he insisted. “I don’t want to be not with [her] for any of this.”
Thurston and Arcuri moved to New York City for her treatment. She also already harvested eggs in case her fertility is impacted by chemotherapy treatments. However, she told Good Morning America last week that she and Arcuri are “okay with being a childless couple” if their family plans don’t work out.
The pair’s wedding took place exactly one year after Thurston first sent her friends a video of Arcuri doing stand-up comedy after coming across it on Instagram. She wrote the message, “Future husband,” along with the clip. The two conversed online for about a month before meeting in person for the first time on May 5, 2024. Arcuri proposed during a trip to Hawaii at the end August.
Thurston previously dated Matt James on Season 25 of The Bachelor in 2021. That summer, she starred as the Bachelorette and got engaged to Blake Moynes, but they split just months after the finale aired. Thurston went on to date John Hersey, another, contestant from her season, before they split in June 2022.
