Nearly two years after “Bachelorette” star Hannah Brown defended premarital sex despite her Christian faith, the show took a surprise turn Monday night when contestant Mike Planeta received a round of applause after revealing he’s a virgin.
During the episode, the contestants were invited to demonstrate to the “Bachelorette,” Katie Thurston, why they would be great lovers and were offered a variety of sex toys to illustrate their point. Though Planeta expressed fear about telling Thurston the truth about his virginity and his views on premarital sex, he ultimately resolved to use the moment as a chance to come clean. When the time came, Planeta decided he would read Thurston an excerpt from his journal to his future wife.
“To my future wife, I’ve always wondered what you would be like. Would you be sweet? Would you be tender? Or would you be full of fire and passion? I think it’s that one,” he said. “Would you be funny, or would you be shy? We know you’re funny. And last, what kind of mother would you be? I’ve always wanted you to feel so loved and honored and the best way for me to show you this is by saving myself for you. Love is hard. Sometimes figuratively, sometimes literally. But I want you to know is that I would wait another 31 years to have sex if it is what proved to you that I would sacrifice everything for you to feel loved and secure and that is why I would be the greatest lover for you.”
Even though Katie Thurston has been outspoken in her views about sex, she was undoubtedly charmed by Planeta’s revelation as he received a round of applause from the other contestants and was eventually awarded first place in the competition.
“Mike acknowledged that he knows exactly who I am. Like, I’m gonna get emotional just talking about it. For him to choose to be here for me, knowing who I am, how I am, that’s probably what, like, hit me the most,” she said.
Katie Thurston’s warm embrace of an avowed virgin is a sharp turn from 2019’s Hannah Brown, who dismissed the outspoken Christian Luke Parker after revealing his thoughts about pre-marital sex.
“So, let’s talk about sex and how the marriage bed should be kept pure,” said Parker at the time. “I had an encounter with God I was in the shower and God was speaking to me. I realized that I wasn’t the man that I wanted to be. And I’ve been working on being the husband that I want to be for my future wife.”
In response, Brown not only rejected Parker’s views on sin but flaunted her own. “I have had sex, and, honestly, Jesus still loves me,” Brown said.
Later in the episode, Brown even characterized Parker’s stance on pre-marital sex as being reflective of some form of toxic masculinity. “I don’t owe you anything … and, guess what? A man does not control anything I do,” she told Parker in the episode.