ABC Clare Crawley poses during a strip dodgeball group date.
SPOILER ALERT: Stop reading if you do not want to see spoilers for season 16, episode two of The Bachelorette. On Tuesday’s episode of The Bachelorette, one group date saw the men strip down during a game of dodgeball. The date drew ire from fans of the franchise, calling the practice sexist and purporting a double standard.
One viewer took to Twitter to accuse lead Clare Crawley of sexual harassment. The user behind @alwayswachu wrote, “incredibly inappropriate. Strip dodge ball? She should be sued for sexual harrassment.”
#bachelorette incredibly inappropriate. Strip dodge ball? She should be sued for sexual harrassment.
In response to replies, they agreed the blame wasn’t solely on Crawley, writing, “True… on the show she suggested it but agree it’s likely the producers. They’re all [to] blame.”
While many viewed the game as inappropriate, others quickly came to the defense of the reality dating show citing a lingerie pillow fight during Peter Weber’s season of The Bachelor.
The Contestants Played Strip Dodgeball
Here we go! Are you Team 🔵 or Team 🔴? #TheBachelorette
During the second group date of the season, the men split into two teams wearing color-coordinated shirts, shorts, socks, armbands, headbands and jockstraps.
Right before the game got underway, Crawley said, “I feel like I wanna up the ante here. I think we should play strip dodgeball.”
Reality Steve pointed out the likely role the producers played in the decision, writing on Twitter, “Any1 who is b******* about Clare & this date & choosing to ‘make’ them strip, I hope were also just as loud when Peter ‘made’ the women lingerie pillow fight each other. This date is ridiculous, they absolutely have a double standard, but it’s NOT on the lead.”
At the end of the game, most of the losing team stripped off their jockstraps. Brendan Morais told Crawley, “I love you, but I can’t.”
Crawley would then ask for hugs from the nude contestants and thanked them for being good sports before spraying a bottle of champagne on the winning team.
One Contestant Was Offended by the Game
The game seemed to particularly offend one contestant, who did not participate in the date. Yosef Aborady referred to the date as “classless.”
After being asked if he would have participated, he said, “Hell no, not in a million years. Number one value is have respect for myself and my daughter.” He said he did not want her to turn on the television and see him naked.
This Is Not the First Controversial Date
As many fans pointed out on social media, Weber’s season saw its own controversy when he had the contestants wear lingerie during a pillow fight.
For the date, Bachelor Nation’s Demi Burnett woke up Weber’s contestants for a date in which the contestants wore “sexy sleepwear” as they completed rounds of pillow fights.
At the time, former Bachelorette Andi Dorfman slammed the date. She wrote in a tweet, “A pillow fight in lingerie? Our tv’s just took 10 giant steps back for feminism, wow.”
Dorfman herself participated in a controversial date where she posed nearly nude for a photoshoot promoting dog adoption during Juan Pablo Galavis’ season of The Bachelor.
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