The hunky star of the latest season of "The Bachelor" unveiled his very candid opinions about the possibility of a future gay bachelor at a "network party" on Friday night.
When asked whether or not he thought the hit ABC reality show featuring a gay or bisexual bachelor would be a "good idea," Juan Pablo Galavis reportedly told The TV Page's Sean Daly, "No... I respect [gay people] but, honestly, I don't think it's a good example for kids..."
Galavis, the 18th man to score the coveted role of "The Bachelor," continued his conversation with Daly -- but not before pointing out his gay friend Peter (because if you have a gay friend, you can't be homophobic, right?) -- and added:
"Obviously people have their husband and wife and kids and that is how we are brought up. Now there is fathers having kids and all that, and it is hard for me to understand that too in the sense of a household having peoples… Two parents sleeping in the same bed and the kid going into bed… It is confusing in a sense."
Galavis, who is the show's first Latino bachelor, also stated that "there's this thing about gay people... it seems to me, and I don't know if I'm mistaken or not... but they're more 'pervert' in a sense. And to me the show would be too strong... too hard to watch."
Listen to the full interview here:
Galavis is certainly not the first celebrity to make offensive comments about the gay community.
Recently "View" co-host Sherri Shepherd told Fusion's Alicia Menendez that she "may not agree with" gay people's "lifestyle" but she still "love[s]" them. And in December "Duck Dynasty" star Phil Robertson unleashed a firestorm of controversy when he made homophobic comments in a GQ magazine interview.
Need to cleanse your palate after all that ick? Check out Jesse Tyler Ferguson and George Takei in Funny or Die's "The First Gay Bachelor" by heading here.
Update at 5:25pm ET: Galavis has released a statement on his Facebook page in response to the controversy:
People,
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.
Sinceramente,
Juan Pablo Galavis.
According to TVGuide.com, ABC released the following statement about the interview:
"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."
Correction: An earlier version of this story mistakenly identified Galavis as the show's first single father. This has been corrected.
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