Christian ‘Bachelorette’ Star Defends Premarital Sex: ‘A Man Does Not Control Anything I Do’

Though “The Bachelorette” star Hannah Brown has been open about her Christian faith this past season, she also openly boasted about premarital sex as if it were no big deal.

“I have had sex, and, honestly, Jesus still loves me,” Brown said on Monday’s episode.

According to Fox News, the comment did not sit well with one of the show’s contestants, Luke Parker, another Bible-believing Christian. Upon learning of Brown’s position on premarital sex, Parker said he would like to be sent home if he learned she “had sex with one or multiple of these guys.”

“So, let’s talk about sex and how the marriage bed should be kept pure,” said Parker, an admirer of prominent devout Christian athlete Tim Tebow. “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.”

As noted by Fox News, Parker’s desire to be a good husband has not gone over well with audiences, who have at times accused him of “toxic masculinity,” “gaslighting,” and “slut shaming.” On Monday night’s episode, Brown essentially denounced Parker’s views with feminist talking points.

“I don’t owe you anything … and, guess what? A man does not control anything I do,” she told Parker.

Brown later spoke with Entertainment Tonight about her religious views on Christ, which boil down to a “personal relationship with Jesus” without doctrinal accountability.

“Regardless of anything that I’ve done … well people might think, ‘Oh, that deserves a scarlet letter.’ That’s not how it works. I can do whatever — I sin daily and Jesus still loves me. It’s all washed and if the Lord doesn’t judge me and it’s all forgiven, then no other man, woman … can judge me,” Brown told Entertainment Tonight.

Though Parker largely did nothing wrong by asking for purity in marriage, the criticism he received from both Brown and audiences appears to have weighed on him. In an Instagram post on Monday night, he said that watching himself on “The Bachelorette” has made him “learn about my flaws as a man” and his desire to grow up.

“I just want to address the elephant in the room here really quick,” he said in his post. “First I want you all to know how hard it has been for me to watch myself this season so far. Regardless of what is aired AND IF [Hannah Brown] and I are together or not my behavior in all situations has been and will continue to be exposed. I have learned a lot and I am continuing to learn about my flaws as a man. I’m the first to admit I am far from perfect. This journey has giving [sic] me a great opportunity to grow and mature as a man, for that I am grateful. For those of you who are on this journey with me I am grateful for your support and hope you get to learn and grow from my mistakes with me!”