TORONTO — Juan Pablo Galavis, who is looking for love on this season’s The Bachelor, has apologized for comments he made Friday about gay people.
Galavis added: “There’s this thing about gay people… they’re more pervert, in a sense.”
Saturday afternoon, Galavis posted a message on Facebook insisting his comments were taken out of context.
“If you listen to the entire interview, there’s nothing but respect for Gay people and their families. I have many gay friends and one of my closest friends who’s like a brother has been a constant in my life especially during the past 5 months,” he wrote.
“The word pervert was not what I meant to say and I am very sorry about it. Everyone knows English is my second language and my vocabulary is not as broad as it is in Spanish and, because of this, sometimes I use the wrong words to express myself. What I meant to say was that gay people are more affectionate and intense and for a segment of the TV audience this would be too racy to accept.”
He added: “I’m sorry for how my words were taken. I would never disrespect anyone.”
In the interview, the 32-year-old single father suggested children would be confused by seeing same-sex parents.
“Now there is fathers having kids and all that, and it is hard for me to understand that, too,” he said. “Two parents sleeping in the same bed and the kid going into bed… It is confusing in a sense.”
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ABC, Warner Horizon and the executive producers of The Bachelor issued a joint statement distancing themselves from Galavis’ comments.
“Juan Pablo’s comments were careless, thoughtless and insensitive, and in no way reflect the views of the network, the show’s producers or studio,” it said.
None of the men who starred on the first 16 seasons of The Bachelor are currently married to the woman they chose on the show. Season 17’s Sean Lowe is currently engaged to Catherine Giudici, whom he met on the show.
Social media was quick to react to Galavis’ comments.
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