UPDATE: This story was originally published at 7 p.m. ET on July 15, 2019.
Luke P. is one of those guys that ends up on The Bachelorette and was expected to crash and burn around week four or five, emphasis on the word "expected," though, because we made it to the Fantasy Suites and Luke P. is somehow still on our televisions.
And, as Bachelorette viewers have probably figured out right now by the Bachelorette previews from ABC, it’s the Fantasy Suite that is his ultimate undoing. He was bounced from the show the way the previews suggest: By telling Hannah Brown who she can have sex ("the marriage bed should be kept pure") with and then being promptly tossed into the back of a black SUV by our sex positive Bachelorette, who triumphant shares news of her recent hookup in a windmill. So where does one go after a moment like that? Does life simply continue on? What is Luke Joshua Parker doing after The Bachelorette?
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Well, it would appear that Luke goes directly to Instagram and a shiny new Twitter (Luke_Parker777) to tell his side of the story. You do you, bro, but as Hannah said, this isn't perception or misunderstanding, this is about the words you literally said.
That, however, doesn't seem to be stopping Luke. And he posted a rash of tweets, calling out his co-stars and Hannah. "@jedwyattmusic and to all the guys, the raw truth about me? Who actually took the time to get to know me?" he says in one, while aiming at Hannah in another: "@AlabamaHannah The difference in how we view sin is seen in the response, I’m weeping at mine and you’re laughing at yours. All sin stings. My heart hurts for both of us."
@AlabamaHannah The difference in how we view sin is seen in the response, I’m weeping at mine and you’re laughing at yours. All sin stings. My heart hurts for both of us.
— Luke Parker (@luke_parker777) July 16, 2019
@jedwyattmusic and to all the guys, the raw truth about me? Who actually took the time to get to know me?
— Luke Parker (@luke_parker777) July 16, 2019
On Instagram, he shared a smiling photo of himself and Hannah on a helicopter in Greece. It came with quite the caption. Whatever your faith, we can all agree that starting any apology with "I'm sorry you felt that I was [insert wrongdoing] to you" is not a real apology:
"It hurt my heart that @alabamahannah felt I was shaming her.
In our conversation my heart was never to judge or condemn Hannah. I was simply making a decision for myself on what I expected in our relationship, our conversations and our beliefs led me to believe we were on the same page about sex. For me it was never about getting a rose, it was always about finding a wife who would choose me everyday just as I would choose her everyday."
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The bottom half of the caption repeats some sentiments her shared early in his Bachelorette journey, but ultimately the tl;dr version is: He's hurt that Hannah felt hurt. He's learned from his mistakes. And his apology is really all about him.
Since the footage of his sex comments to Hannah started gracing the weekly Bachelorette promos, Luke has been (perhaps wisely) somewhat cryptic about his time on the show. The only thing was that it wasn't all that cryptic, take for example, these two Instagrams:
He's posted a few 'grams that might be cryptic if you had never seen an episode of The Bachelorette. The first, simply states "Rise above it ???" next to an image of Luke with angel wings and the second is of him running with "hater blockers on."
Before the long-awaited episode aired, Luke was focused on making the most out of his new-found fame.
One look at Luke P. and you can see that he spends a lot of time getting fit. He posts a ton about CrossFit, and he’s always in the box — and ‘gramming about the fact that he’s in the box. He's yet to tag anything as an ad, but damnit if this doesn't look like a pre-spon con hustle.
At the very least, he's getting a little practice at the influencer game by helping get the word out about his mom's store (this is objectively a very good boy thing to do, despite everything).
It also seems that the Bachelorette contestant is sticking around Los Angeles. Luke P. recently posted that he took a red eye to make it to a special wedding back home in Georgia. If he’s in L.A., is he there because he’s exploring new opportunities for work, as some Bachelorette contestants do?
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Listen — Luke P.’s behavior on The Bachelorette has been awful. He’s been accused of gaslighting Hannah, he seems like a capital-B bully, and then there's what appears to be sex shaming of Hannah. And back in May 2019, it seemed like he maybe got that. He offered up a sort-of apology on his Instagram, with a blanket description for "my behavior in all situations has been and will continue to be exposed" — with no mention of the sex conversation explicitly. He wrote:
“I have learned a lot and I am continuing to learn about my flaws as a man. I’m the first to admit I am far from perfect. This journey has giving [sic] me a great opportunity to grow and mature as a man, for that I am grateful.”
Whatever you say there, Lukey. Let’s see you practice what you preach, okay?
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