Virgins are few and far between in Bachelor Nation. Ashley Iaconetti, Sean Lowe, Colton Underwood and Becca Tilley are just a few of the cast members who famously spoke out on TV about holding onto their V-cards.
“I feel like people think I’m less of a man because of that. And that’s the hardest thing for me to hear,” Underwood said during the July 2018 Men Tell All special after his elimination from Becca Kufrin’s season of The Bachelorette.
The former Bachelor, who publicly came out as gay in April 2021, further reflected on his decision to discuss his virginity on the show.
“I love shedding light on positive/impactful events in my life, but the truth is I have had struggles,” Underwood wrote via Instagram in July 2018. “For years I hid my feelings, including depression & anxiety. You see a portion of my life and a select few scenes that help portray a picture of who I am. I’m here to tell you that I am not perfect and that it’s okay to not be okay sometimes. If I have to continue to take cheap shots about my virginity — which is only a small part of who I am — so that others like me can feel comfortable & relate — Bring it on!”
The Coming Out Colton alum continued: “While I didn’t plan on breaking down or speaking about my virginity on tonight’s episode, it is clearly something that I struggle talking about. When I heard the comments made by some of the other guys it triggered a response from me that was unexpected. While I respect their opinions, I’m not here to prove a point, say I’m better than anyone else or gain sympathy. It is what it is… my virginity shouldn’t have to be defended or used to describe me as a person.”
Underwood, who got engaged to Jordan C. Brown in February 2022, is not the only Bachelor Nation star to discuss virginity on the show. Madison Prewett, for her part, revealed in a February 2020 confessional interview that she was saving herself for marriage but she waited to tell Bachelor Peter Weber of her lifestyle choice.
“Opening up about something like saving myself for marriage and that gift I one day want to give to my husband, that’s a very intimate and vulnerable thing to open up about,” Preset explained in an April 2020 episode of Kaitlyn Bristowe’s “Off the Vine” podcast. “It’s something I’m extremely proud of and so grateful for in my life, but it’s still something that’s intimate to talk about. That’s something I wasn’t just discussing with Peter, but I was inviting millions of people into that vulnerable place… I probably should’ve shared it sooner and who knows if it would’ve made a difference? Of course he’s going to argue it might’ve made a difference, but who knows?”
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Revisit the Bachelor franchise’s most infamous virgins through the years:
