OCTOBER 9, 2025
Katie Thurston: “Don’t Call Me Brave”
In Flow Space’s new cover story, the reality TV star reflects on the shock of her Stage 4 breast cancer diagnosis, pushes back on being labeled “brave,” and shares how she and new husband Jeff Arcuri are navigating love, uncertainty, and their hopes of starting a family.
Written by: Galina Espinoza
Photography by: Bertram Knight
Read the full story HERE
New York, NY, September 24, 2025: Today, Flow Space unveiled its latest cover story featuring Katie Thurston, who speaks candidly about her life with metastatic breast cancer. In the deeply personal interview, the former Bachelorette star recounts her darkest moment receiving the diagnosis, rejects the common “fighter” label often placed on cancer patients, and shares how she is reshaping her future with new husband, Jeff Arcuri.
The full interview, written by Flow Space Editor-in-Chief, Galina Espinoza, appears as the cover story for The Resiliency Issue (link HERE).
Interview Highlights:
On learning she had breast cancer: “I don’t think I ever felt as low in my life as I did hearing that,” Thurston shares. “It was definitely my darkest moment, because, you know, leading into it, there’s a chance that it’s not cancer. And you’re just not prepared to hear that it is, at any age, but especially in your 30s.”
On being called ‘brave’: “A lot of people in the breast cancer community, myself included, always hear, ‘You’re so brave, you’re such a fighter.’ Don’t give us credit for being brave. We have no choice but to show up—it’s either that or die.”
On how her diagnosis upended her life plans with fiancé Jeff Arcuri: “The timing of everything was horrible. My lease in LA was up. I had sold my car. I didn’t have health insurance set up in New York. We didn’t have a place to live yet.”
On her whirlwind romance with Arcuri: “Technically, it was in the DMs,” Thurston laughs. “I think maybe he responded to a story of mine.” Their first date never happened. “I thought, ‘Oh, this man’s ghosting me — or else he better be dead!’” she recalls. In fact, Arcuri was hospitalized with sepsis, and the two spent a month talking nonstop. By May 2024, they finally met in person, and the connection was “very instant—we were both on the same page of what we were looking for.”
On wanting to have a family: “We have two embryos that are like, ready to go,” Thurston reveals. Still, there’s uncertainty. “There’s no guarantee that they will even take,” she admits. For now, the couple is focused on her health: “That whole conversation about starting a family—what that looks like—it's just not really on top of our to-do list right now. That’s yet another chapter [for us].”
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About Flow Space
Flow Space is a digital and live media platform dedicated to women’s health with an emphasis on functional wellbeing and long-term vitality. Flow Space delivers science-backed reporting on brain and heart health, medical innovation, longevity, menopause, and more—giving women the tools to improve both lifespan and health span. Officially launched at South by Southwest (SXSW) in 2023, Flow Space is best known for shining a spotlight on important conversations and information-sharing that touches every aspect of women’s health and wellbeing. With an all-star lineup of the most interesting and outspoken celebrity advocates including Brooke Shields, Katie Couric, Busy Philipps, Emma Lovewell, Ilana Glazer, Alysia Reiner, Maria Shriver, Christy Turlington, Marcia Gay Harden, Sophia Bush, Allyson Felix, Anna Kendrick and more, Flow Space has rapidly created a meaningful community for women. Published by Penske Media Corporation and part of the SHE Medianetwork, Flow Space is fostering a community where women feel heard, supported, informed, and empowered through content brought to life on the site and in person at its year-round live events, and cornerstone activation at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin.
PR Contact:
Abby Kalicka, akalicka@pmc.com