Sex and Jesus are centerstage in the current season of “The Bachelorette” on ABC, with star Hannah Brown declaring in a new teaser for Monday night’s episode, “I have had sex, and Jesus still loves me.”
Brown made the comment after being confronted by contestant Luke Parker, who told the show’s leading woman he would be “wanting to go home” if he learned she “had sex with one or multiple of these guys.”
At the beginning of the current season, in mid-May, Parker revealed he had converted to Christianity after spending years as a “player” who took advantage of women.
The 24-year-old contestant said he resolved to turn his life around after he heard God “speak” to him. The encounter, he recalled, according to The Christian Post, helped him realize he “wasn’t the man” he wanted to be.
“I’ve been working on the husband that I want to be for my future wife,” he said.
Regardless, Brown, also a professing Christian, was not happy with the way her potential suitor confronted her about her sexuality.
During an interview with Entertainment Tonight, the show’s star said, “Regardless of anything that I’ve done, 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.”
She concluded she “won’t stand” for another person, including Parker, passing judgement on her past decisions.
Parker, for his part, has been cast as this season’s villain — a characterization he isn’t too pleased to engender, but one he’s nevertheless humbly accepted.
In an incredibly transparent Instagram posted in late May, Parker admitted it’s been “hard for me to watch myself this season so far.”
“I have learned a lot and am continuing to learn about my flaws as a man,” he wrote. “I’m the first to admit I am far from perfect. This journey has given me a great opportunity to grow and mature as a man, for that I am grateful.”
He added that he hopes those watching along will “get to learn and grow from my mistakes with me.”