“The Bachelorette” star Luke Parker has been booted off the show after revealing his deeply-held Christian views towards sex before marriage.
In a dramatic final scene with Bachelorette contestant Hannah Brown, Parker talked openly about his confusion over some of the other contestants who “proclaim their faith” and yet desire to explore relationships “on a sexual level.”
“To me that’s like, ‘what? excuse me? there’s something missing here.’ I don’t believe that’s something that you should be doing,” he said. “I just want to make sure we are on the same page.”
The contestant continued: “If you told me you were having sex, or you had sex with one or multiple of these guys, I would be wanting to go home, 100 percent.”
Brown became angry in response, saying she was mad because Parker was “not her husband” and had no right to speak to her like that.
“You’re questioning me and judging me,” she said.
Then, after becoming suitably offended, the Bachelorette very much went on the offensive.
“Guess what? Sex might be a sin out of marriage, pride is a sin, too, and I feel like this is like a pride thing,” she jabbed. “I feel like I’ve finally gotten clarity on you and I do not want you to be my husband.”
Then, in a final lash out, Hannah revealed to Luke that she’d had sex in a windmill with contestant Peter Weber.. twice: “I have had sex and, like, Jesus still loves me,” she declared.
As Hannah opened the limo door and asked the distraught Parker to leave, he quietly asked, “can I pray over you before I leave?”
“No.. no,” Brown responded adamantly.
At that, any hopes of a future relationship was well and truly over.
According to TMZ, this aired segment of conversation over sexual purity was in response to something inflammatory that was said by Hannah — the remarks, however, never made it to the final edit.
Debate spills out onto Twitter and Instagram
Following Monday’s explosive final scene, Luke and Hannah exchanged blows on Twitter, carrying on the conversation about sin and sexual morals.
“Your tweets about the windmill and the wood were enough, it’s not about the action it’s about the response,” Parker tweeted in response to a tweet Brown sent after the episode, which appeared to make light of her sexual exploits:
“If you want to talk about it, you know how to get a hold of me,” Luke added.
In some further remarks on the matter, Parker wrote that “the difference in how we view sin is seen in the response.”
“I’m weeping at mine and you’re laughing at yours,” he said. “All sin stings. My heart hurts for both of us.”
Brown snapped back, writing that, “time and time again Jesus loved and ate with ‘sinners’ who laughed. And time and time again he rebuked ‘saints’ that judged.”
“Where do you fall Luke?” she asked.
On Instagram, the bachelor said it “hurt his heart” that Brown thought he was trying to “shame her” for her sexual behavior — an accusation that many have jumped to online.
“In our conversation, my heart was never to judge or condemn Hannah. I was simply making a decision for myself on what I expected in our relationship, our conversations and our beliefs led me to believe we were on the same page about sex,” he wrote.
Concluding his heartfelt post, Parker said that he was determined to honor God above the noise of The Bachelorette and its swirling gossip.
“My desire is to put the Father first above all things and share the truth that he has given to us all,” he concluded in his post. “Thank you everyone for the prayers always remember speak truth and rid yourself of all hate, let compassion drive your words. Stay tuned. #faithfuloverfamous.””