Standing for purity on prime time: Madi Prewett Troutt on 'The Bachelor'



Madi Prewett Troutt is known by most of the country for her stint on “The Bachelor” — which began with her friends submitting her name without her approval.

“I was 23 years old living in Alabama, and I was going through Bible college at the time,” Troutt tells BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey on “Relatable.”

“I’m hanging out with these girls. I come over, and they’re all watching 'The Bachelor.' I immediately start judging them, Allie. I’m going to be really honest with you, I started judging them, and I was like, ‘You guys, we have to turn this off, why are we watching this show?’ And I had never watched it before,” Troutt explains.

“I just knew it was reality TV. So I was like, ‘OK, this is probably trash.' ... They make a joke: ‘You should go on the show, you would be great on the show,’” she continues.


Troutt shrugged them off as they “laughed in the corner,” but then months later, she got a call from a random number.

It was “The Bachelor,” and they wanted her on the show.

While Troutt was ready to turn it down, her mother told her to “pray about it,” and that's when she began considering it — though she believed God would tell her no.

“And over the course of a couple of months, ironically, I kept feeling a pull to say yes,” she says.

“I hadn't really watched an episode before, maybe one or two after I said yes to kind of prep for it and went in with just an open mind, open hands, thinking, 'I’m here to share the gospel with the girls on the show,'” she explains.

“Looking back, I so see how the Lord has used it and even grown me so much in my faith and dependence in Him. And it’s truly crazy the opportunities and moments that I had even behind the scenes filming the show with producers and with the girls to get to just talk about Jesus,” she tells Stuckey.

“They would see me reading my Bible. They would see me, you know, praying and not gossiping and not dressing a certain way and not drinking and these things and would be curious about it and just would ask questions. And it just was really cool in a culture of there being such compromise and competition to just say, ‘Hey, I know who I am in Christ, and I’m not here to, you know, steal a rose from you or anything like that,’” she says.

Toward the end of the show, the remaining few girls are asked to stay the night at the bachelor’s fantasy suite, where there’s an implication of sexual impurity. Troutt refused to partake in it and explained to the bachelor that she was saving herself for marriage.

“I think it was really cool how the Lord used that and then when it aired, you know, getting to take a stand for Jesus and for my purity,” she says.

“I just remember being so prayerful about it because I was like, I know a lot of people are going to be watching this who aren’t believers,” she continues, adding, “And I don’t want to come across as judgmental at all, but I also know my values and my convictions that I’m unwilling to compromise in.”

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Gen Z Wants Authentic Faith. Here’s What They Need to Know | Madi Prewett Troutt | Ep 1243
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Gen Z Wants Authentic Faith. Here’s What They Need to Know | Madi Prewett Troutt | Ep 1243

Doomed from the start: ‘Bachelor’ star forced now-ex-girlfriend into racial struggle session



After four years of dating, “Bachelor” star Matt James and the woman who won his heart, Rachael Kirkconnell, have called it quits.

But this isn’t just any viral breakup.

Rather, it’s one tainted — and likely fueled — by the racist anti-racism trope that has plagued America since the George Floyd protests of 2020.

James was the “Bachelor” franchise's first-ever black bachelor, and immediately after his choice of Kirkconnell was made public, “racially insensitive” photos from her past began surfacing on social media. Those photos included her attending an antebellum plantation-themed party at her Georgia college while wearing a hoopskirt.


“Everyone said in light of all the craziness going on that that was racist, that that was white supremacist, even though they weren't celebrating slavery. It had nothing to do with race. The South isn’t inherently racist. It’s not inherently about slavery,” Allie Beth Stuckey of “Relatable” comments.

Rachael then posted an apology to her Instagram, admitting that her ignorance was racist and that she was wrong — but that wasn’t enough for James.

“When I questioned our relationship, it was on the context of you not fully understanding my blackness, and what it means to be a black man in America, and what it would mean for our kids when I saw those things that were floating around the internet,” James said in Kirkconnell’s 2021 struggle session, recorded for all to see on ABC.

“And it broke my heart, because this is the last conversation I thought we’d be having. I had to take a step back for you to put in that work that you outlined that you needed to do, and that’s something you got to do on your own, and that’s why we can’t be in a relationship,” he added.

“So you have to do the work because you wore a dress in 2018 and you went to some antebellum party in 2018, even though he knows her now and says that he loves her and loved her enough to be on a path toward marriage,” Stuckey comments.

James and Kirkconnell then got back together, but now, at 28 and 33, they have decided to go their separate ways — which James used to post a public prayer about their breakup on his Instagram.

“He is just kind of stringing her along and playing husband and wife without actually making that commitment,” Stuckey says, “and then at the end of it all, posting a public prayer after he had already taken her through the public humiliation ritual of calling her a racist on TV.”

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

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ABC reportedly pays 8-figure severance to get rid of Chris Harrison after 'Bachelor' host said former contestant should be offered grace in racism controversy



Chris Harrison, longtime host of "The Bachelor" and "Bachelorette" franchises, has been relieved of his hosting duties for good, according to a Tuesday report from Hollywood trade website Deadline.

The outlet noted that ABC and Warner Media reportedly gave Harrison a "mid-range eight-figure" payoff following his departure as well as a "promise to keep his mouth shut."

What's a brief history here?

Harrison has been at the center of a racism controversy after he reportedly asked "Bachelor" fans to give "grace" to a contestant who was reportedly seen in a photo that contained racist imagery.

In an early February interview, Harrison suggested that fans of the show ought to give former "Bachelor" winner Rachael Kirkconnell an opportunity to explain why she attended a 2018 fraternity event with an "Antebellum" theme. Kirkconnell, according to reports, was also previously accused of "liking" photos of the Confederate flag on social media. He also implored viewers to avoid acting as "judge, jury, and executioner."

In February, Harrison announced that he was stepping away from the show for an undetermined period of time.

Former contestants Tayshia Adams and Kaitlyn Bristowe were tapped as "The Bachelorette's" temporary hosts.

What are the details?

Early Tuesday morning, Deadline reported that Harrison received a "mid-range eight-figure payoff" following his departure.

"The confidential settlement with franchise producers and distributor Warner Horizon was finally reached after one more flurry of back and forth between the parties and 'Bachelor' broadcaster ABC on Monday night," Deadline's Dominic Patten wrote. "A motivational undercurrent, so to speak, throughout was Harrison lawyer Bryan Freedman pledging to unleash the Shiva of lawsuits exposing a swath of 'The Bachelor's' alleged dirty laundry unless his Gersh-repped client emerged feeling the financial love."

The outlet also reported that ABC and Warner Media announced that they removed Harrison to improve "BIPOC representation."

"We are dedicated to improving the BIPOC representation of our crew, including among the executive producer ranks," a statement for Warner and ABC stated. "These are important steps in effecting fundamental change so that our franchise is a celebration of love that is reflective of our world."

Harrison has issued several apologies for his remarks, and said that the show's season ought not be "marred or overshadowed" by "mistakes" or "diminished" by "actions."

He also said, "I am saddened and shocked at how insensitive I was in that interview and I didn't speak from my heart. That is to say I stand against all forms of racism and I am deeply sorry. ... I'm sorry to the black community."

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