‘Bachelorette’ Contestant Justin Glaze Apologizes For Old ‘Ignorant’ Anti-Gay Tweets

The Bachelorette’s Justin Glaze, who is currently a contestant on season 17 of the ABC show, may have jeopardized his future with the franchise after tweets he made nearly a decade ago resurfaced on Reddit this weekend.

Glaze, who is a 27-year-old investment sales consultant when he’s not competing for Katie Thurston’s heart, apologized for tweets he made between the ages of 14 and 16 that involved insulting women of color and homophobic slurs.

The TV personality publicly apologized Monday night on the latest episode of the Bachelor Happy Hour podcast hosted by past Bachelorettes Tayshia Adams and Becca Kufrin.

“I have no issue with owning up and apologizing from the bottom of my heart for the really hurtful words that I used back in 2009 and 2011,” Glaze said. “The last thing that I want to do is run from it. That’s not who I am. I just want to kind of speak from the heart, and hopefully, people will kind of get an understanding of where I was then versus where I am now.”

Glaze admitted he felt the pressure to “fit in and say funny things” in high school in order to keep up with his friends, admitting to not thinking much about using hurtful slurs at the time.

“No matter how long it was, those words shouldn’t have come out of my mouth,” he said. “I’m obviously in a much different place now, over a decade later as a 27-year-old and I can look back and be ashamed of the words that I used … I know as I’ve matured and evolved and grown as a person, I’m a totally different version of Justin than I was.”

Glaze went on to acknowledge not thinking of minority groups he offended or the consequences of these tweets later on in his life, calling this “a wake-up call.”

“Unfortunately, my underdeveloped brain wasn’t thinking, ‘How can these words hurt people later on in life if they were to ever resurface?’ I’m not making any excuses,” he explained. “I need to be fully held accountable for my actions and my words. I fully understand that, and I just want people to know that I’ve changed immensely since then and I’m fully aware of the weight that my words carry.

Glaze recently landed his first one-on-one date with Thurston on Monday night’s episode of The Bachelorette, and if he makes it in the final four next week, he will secure a date with Thurston in his hometown. The Bachelorette airs Monday nights at 8 p.m. on ABC.