Juan Pablo Galavis’s Instagram and Facebook profile has been a hotbed for intense conversations and political debate the past few days after he was quoted saying that having a gay bachelor show would not be good for kids.

According to the Daily News, the former Venezuelan soccer star is currently promoting the show and shared about his objections and on having a hit reality TV dating show featuring same-sex couples.

“I respect them, but I don’t think it is a good example for kids to watch on TV,” Juan Pablo told TV Page in an interview Friday.

In what he described as a comment misinterpreted because of English is not his first language, the 32-year-old hunk said, “There’s this thing about gay people - it seems to be, I don’t know if I’m mistaken or not - I have a lot of friends like that, but they’re more pervert in sense.”

His comments has sparked a firestorm of angry comments labeling the soccer star turned reality star, who grew up with gay friends and have been defended by a gay TV writer, as a homophobe and bigot. Juan Pablo has since apologized for his comments.

“His backpedaling is a joke. He’s nothing but a disgusting bigot,” says one comment on Facebook.

“BIGOT,” was another comment on a picture of him posted when he was on the show.
Some Instagram comments Juan Pablo received for his comments labeled him as a wannabe and whore.

“...another dirty whore wannabe contestant. Lmao!! Get a grip whore,” writes one user. Another Instagram user wrote the words “#unfollow’ signifying that he’s done watching the TV star.

Yesterday, the TV star posted a long apology on Facebook clarifying his comments.

“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”

ABC, the network where the show is aired, and producers of “The Bachelor” issued a statement condemning Juan Pablo’s comments.

“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,” the statement read.