A reality TV contestant has stunned people for his stance on chastity.
Former baseball player Mike Planeta joined as a prospect of Katie Thurston in reality show "The Bachelorette." His biblical idea of loving a woman moved Thurston that he was chosen as "the greatest lover of all time" in an episode of the show, The Christian Post reported.
The program's Season 17 features Thurston as the bachelorette, who is very open on conversations about intimacy.
In the second episode of the show, contestants were reportedly asked to describe what makes them the best "lover."
In response, Planeta shared a heartwarming poem with Thurston.
"To my future wife, I always picture what you were like. Would you be tender or passionate? Funny or shy?
"At last, what kind of mother would you be? I always wanted you to feel loved and honored.
"And the best way to show you this is to save myself for you. Love is hard, sometimes physically, sometimes literally."
He concluded by saying that he would wait another 31 years of his life, saving himself for intimacy if that will make the woman he loves "feel beautiful and secure."
The poem deeply touched the bachelorette that she awarded "the greatest lover of all time" trophy to Planeta.
The former athlete told the producers that he is "waiting till marriage" for intimacy and taking his opportunity to pursue Thurston seriously. But he turned emotional upon thinking that she may not accept him for his position on purity.
During a conversation with hosts Becca Kufrin and Tayshia Adams on the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast, Thurston praised Planeta for being honest about himself.
"When he went up there and read that letter, I was just so moved by it and how comfortable he was still pursuing me given his beliefs and how open and honest he was. It literally brought a tear to my eye. He was so deserving of the award that day," she said.
Planeta is a 31-year old gym owner from San Diego, California. Being an athlete and good-looking, people mistook him as a "player." But the former MLB is actually a man of faith. Raised in a Christian family, he believes in loving a woman faithfully.
Thurston, on the other hand, is a 30-year old bank marketing manager from Renton, Washington. She joined the 25th season of "The Bachelor" but was eliminated in its sixth week. She was remembered in the show as being outspoken, standing against bullying and for her belief.
Virginity is a rarity in this age of liberalism.
But according to The Atlantic, saving intimacy until marriage actually makes happy marriages.
Nicholas Wolfinger, a sociologist at the University of Utah, revealed that women "who have only ever slept with their spouses are most likely to report being in a 'very happy' marriage."
W. Bradford Wilcox, a sociologist and senior fellow at the Institute for Family Studies, added that these women were also least likely to divorce.
