The Venezuelan reality TV star meant to say that having gay people on the show would be too racy to accept for a TV segment.
- Jan 19, 2014
AceShowbiz - Juan Pablo Galvais, the current "The Bachelor" star, has apologized for his anti-gay remarks, saying he did not mean to say the words he said. The Venezuelan soccer player blamed his lack of English vocabulary when saying that homosexuals are more "pervert".
Galvais was answering TheTVPage.com writer Sean Daly's question on whether ABC should allow to have a gay or bisexual bachelor at some point. Galvais replied, "I respect them, but honestly I don't think its a good example for kids to watch that on TV. I respect that 100 percent ...You have to respect everybody's desires, opinions and way of living. But it would be too hard for TV."
He then dropped the bomb, saying "There's this thing about gay people. It seems to me, you know, and I don't know if I'm mistaken or not. I have a lot of friends like that, but they're more pervert in a sense and to me the show will be too strong, too hard to watch on TV."
ABC has slammed Galvais' comments as "careless, thoughtless and insensitive," adding the opinions "in no way reflect the views of the network, the show's producers or studio."
Galvais has posted an apology on Facebook, writing "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."
He added in the open letter that he has "nothing but respect for gay people and their families. ...Once again, I'm sorry for how my words were taken. I would never disrespect anyone."
