Clayton Echard was left tongue-tied and stammering over Teddi Wright’s confession she is still a virgin on their one-on-one date, and fans were not happy.
The Bachelor prompted backlash from fans after he told Teddi he “would have never known” she was a virgin.
Clayton Echard was shocked by Teddi Wright’s revelation that she is still a virgin
Clayton visibly struggled to form a response after Teddi opened up about waiting until she’s in love to have sex for the first time.
Teddi revealed that she’d felt pressure when she was younger because her mother had had a child at such a young age. Although she eventually came to the realization that she needed to make decisions about sex for herself, she was still committed to waiting until she was in love.
“I mean, for one, I don’t know, like,” a flustered Clayton said, “For what it is, I mean, I would have never known. I mean. I feel there’s an attraction there. For me, more so that’s, just like that thought’s like, ‘okay, do I see it?’ Yes, I see the physical attraction like the tension, like, that’s all there.”
The Bachelor viewers took to social media to troll the lead for his less than elegant response.
“Not Clayton saying ‘I would have never known you were a virgin’ like he just gave her the world’s greatest compliment,” one viewer wrote.
“Currently trying to figure out what virgins are supposed to look like after Clayton said he ‘never would have known’ that Teddy was a virgin before she told him.”
Viewers were also struck by Clayton appearing to focus on his physical attraction to Teddi in his response.
Clayton Echard gave Teddi Wright the one-on-one date rose
However, Clayton was also stuck on the revelation that Teddi had never been in love before. He went on to question her about how she would know if the feelings were there and if she was ready to be fully vulnerable with him.
Despite getting the one-on-one rose, it did appear as though Clayton was having second thoughts about their conversation.
“It carries a lot of weight, especially now, knowing all of that,” Clayton said. “I really want to make sure that, like, with her, I’m 100% in.”
Teddi reassured Clayton she felt safer with him than any other man she’d dated, and Clayton in turn said it was just as easy to give her the rose tonight as the first night he’d met her.
He did eventually emphasize that their emotional connection was the most important aspect of the relationship to him, and the two ended the night on a high note.
The Bachelor airs on Mondays at 8/7c on ABC.