“Woke up this morning and realized I used toy cleaner instead of lube last night,” the season 17 Bachelorette, 30, tweeted on Friday, July 30, adding a woozy face emoji.

Thurston subsequently shared a photo of her Pink Cherry unscented anti-bacterial sex toy cleaner.

pic.twitter.com/HA4Y3GWXU0

— Katie Thurston (@katiethurston) July 30, 2021

However, one fan encouraged the reality star to look on the bright side, replying: “It does say non irritating after all.”

Thurston appreciated the positive spin on her snafu. “The first thing I checked once I realized,” she responded, alongside two laughing emojis.

The former bank marketing manager made an early impression on Bachelor viewers when she showed up to Matt James’ season 25 with a vibrator. She earned a reputation as a sex-positive contestant on the reality show, which carried over into her stint as the Bachelorette.

Thurston revealed during a June episode of The Bachelorette that she was “involved in a situation where there wasn’t consent” 10 years earlier, which affected her perception of sex.

“I didn’t want to have sex. … I didn’t like talking about sex, and it’s taken me a long time to get to where I am now — loving myself and accepting things I can no longer control,” she told her suitors during a group date.

Thurston elaborated on her experience during a June appearance on the “Talking It Out” podcast. “I had to really learn how to have a healthy relationship with sex but also how to communicate with your partner,” she explained of previously “forcing” herself to be intimate.

The TV personality acknowledged that the shift came after a lengthy process. “It took a lot of time and a lot of failed relationships that were centered around sex being an issue,” she recalled, adding that change did not come until three years ago. “I finally was very firm in my decision that, if I didn’t want to have sex, I said no and I meant it. That was probably the first step.”

Thurston connected with contestant Blake Moynes — who arrived late to her season after previously vying for Clare Crawley and Tayshia Adams on season 16 — over their sex-positive attitudes during a July episode of the show, detailing how she moved on after the assault.

“Eventually the #MeToo movement happened and it started to kind of give me some power back in that situation, in terms of taking away the blame I put on myself for what happened,” she said. “Slowly I started to become more comfortable at talking about sex and what healthy sex means and I mean, even as recently as this past year, just really owned who I was and wanted to start to be comfortable talking about sex again in a healthy way.”

If you or anyone you know has been sexually abused, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). A trained staff member will provide confidential, judgment-free support as well as local resources to assist in healing, recovering and more. 

This story originally appeared on: US Magazine - Author:Erin Crabtree