Star of ABC's "The Bachelor" and former Venezuelan soccer player Juan Pablo Galavis posted an official apology on his Facebook page for anti-gay sentiments he recently voiced during an interview on The TV Page.
"I want to apologize to all the people I may have offended because of my comments," Galavis wrote online. "The comment was taken out of context."
The reality star said on Friday that he didn't think "The Bachelor" would do well with a show for gays.
"I respect them, but I don't think it is a good example for kids to watch that on TV," he told The TV Page. "You have to respect everybody's desires and way of living, but it would be too hard for TV. There's this thing about gay people - it seems to be, I don't know if I'm mistaken or not - ... but they're more pervert in a sense."
He later said that the comments were misinterpreted due to a language barrier.
"If you listen to the entire interview, there's nothing but respect for gay people and their families," he wrote on Facebook. "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."
Juan Pablo also wrote that he meant gays were too "affectionate and intense" for "The Bachelor's" audience to accept.
ABC and producers of the show also released a statement in response to the widespread backlash that Galavis' comments incited.
"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," production company Warner Horizon and the network wrote in a joint statement this past weekend.
