Enough already! ABC's The Bachelor Juan Pablo Galavis did the right thing. Why all the hubbub?
Just because someone says "I love you!" on national television, doesn't mean the couple will get married or stay married. The vast majority of The Bachelor and The Bachelorettecouples have borne this out. The show's been on-air at least a dozen years, and the number of successful marriages can be counted on one hand. Not a great track record for the show or as a way of living happily ever after.
So he refused to say, "I love you!" on command when exhorted to do so by host Chris Harrison. Big deal! That makes him more of a man and more respectful, not less. Contestants do have the right to some privacy in this oh, so voyeuristic society that we have become. Because, ladies, how romantic would it be to have a man tell you he loves you in response to ABC's Chris Harrison on WLS-TV?
He can't win either way. If you first tell someone you love her on national television, wouldn't this just be seen as a gimmick, as insincere, as just being done for show or for the show? He loses either way.
That's not how it's done anyway. Telling a woman you love her for the first time is a very private, sacred moment. You wouldn't do it in front of your family, your best friend, your priest, or the milkman. If we still had milkmen... Why would you do it for the first time in perhaps the most public place of all? On national television? You wouldn't. And he didn't. Good for him!
Juan Pablo's top picks included a renowned opera singer, a prosecuting attorney and a pediatric nurse, who got the guy. That's an indicator of someone who took the process very seriously. He went for brains as well as beauty. He comes from a culture (Venezuelan) and religious faith (Roman Catholic) that takes matrimony very seriously. In the Roman Catholic faith, we are raised to mate for life. Divorce is not taken lightly. So Catholics may be slower to say, "I do" with this in mind. Please respect this!
Not to be thin-skinned, but methinks a lot of this tumult is thinly veiled Catholic bashing. Not cool. Frankly, it's offensive. Especially coming in the midst of Catholic Lenten observances leading up to the most revered days of the Catholic liturgical year the Last Supper, Good Friday and the Resurrection on Easter Sunday. As a devout Roman Catholic myself, I strenuously object.
By the way, the pediatric nurse who won the final rose is someone he appears to have viewed as a frontrunner right off the bat, since he introduced her to his daughter in the beginning weeks of the show. In fact, Nikki was the first one and only one to meet his daughter for a very long time on the show. Maybe she was his first pick all along. Sure looks that way.
Watching "After the Final Rose" with Juan Pablo and his chosen Nikki, how could you not see the look of love in both their eyes? You can't fake that. He's a pro soccer player, not Cary Grant.
Juan Pablo and Nikki have a right to their privacy now that the show is over. Respect it. Respect them. Put on Aretha Franklin's "Respect Yourself". Paying attention to its lyrics.
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