Juan Pablo, the current bachelor on ABC’s The Bachelor commented that he doesn’t think the reality show should have gay or bisexual bachelors.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Juan Pablo Galavis, the 32-year-old bachelor, made these comments to The TV Page’s Sean Daly. Daly posted those comments in audio form. Daly asked Galavis if ABC should have a gay or bisexual bachelor on the show.
“No,” Galavis said. “Just ’cause I respect them but, honestly, I don’t think it’s a good example for kids to watch that on TV. It’s hard, it’s hard, it’s a very thin line.”
“Obviously, people have their husband and wife and have kids, and that’s how we are brought up. Now there’s fathers having kids and all that, and it’s hard for me to understand that, too, in the sense of a household having people’s… two parents sleeping in the same bed and the kid going into bed…,” Galavis added. “It’s confusing in a sense, but I respect them because they want to have kids, they want to be parents. It’s a scale; where do you put it on the scale, where’s the thin line to cross or not? You have to respect everybody’s desires, opinions and way of living. But it would be too hard for TV.”
It may have been the following comment that may have pushed things over the line.
“There’s this thing about gay people — it seems to me, I don’t know if I’m mistaken or not — I have a lot of friends like that, but they’re more pervert in a sense. To me, the show would be too strong, too hard to watch on TV,” Galavis said.
These comments come after the highly controversial statements made by Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson.
ABC, Warner Horizon Television and The Bachelor producers released the following statement, “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.”
Galavis then took to Facebook to release a statement and apologize, “I want to apologize to all the people I may have offended because of my comments on having a Gay or Bisexual Bachelor. The comment was 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. 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. The show is very racy as it is and I don’t let my 5 year old daughter watch it. Once again, I’m sorry for how my words were taken. I would never disrespect anyone.”
GLAAD’s director of Spanish language and Latino media, Monica Trasandes posted a statement on the organizations website that they had contacted Galavis and he agreed to speak with LGBT families in the Los Angeles area.
“At a time when Latino support for gay and lesbian people and our families is growing, we look forward to continuing the conversation with Juan Pablo and working with him to help educate his fans about who gay and lesbian parents are,” Trasandes’ post read. “Study after study shows that young people raised by gay parents are as happy and healthy as other young people.”
Galavis was offered an oppurtunity to clear the air in Spanish on TODAY but ABC spokeperson said Galavis is not doing interviews.