The Bachelorette Had Sex & Everyone Has An Opinion About It

On last night's episode of The Bachelorette, the moment that's been teased since the premiere arrived. Kaitlyn Bristowe had sex with one of the contestants before the show's typically agreed upon setting (the Fantasy Suite) and time (right before the proposal, when she's down to her final two suitors). After the show relocated from San Antonio to Dublin, Kaitlyn and Nick Viall — a later addition to the cast from Andi Dorfman's season — went on a romantic date that saw them kissing everywhere from alleyways to a church. After dinner, Kaitlyn asked Nick if he wanted to go back to her hotel room. He said yes, and a million viewers simply nodded their heads at the pretty standard relationship progression for two people aged 29 and 34. The only catch? Those two people are on a nationally televised series, on which sex and other practicalities of relationships are glossed over in favor of idealized depictions of romance complete with sunsets in paradise. For some reason, we like our Bachelors and Bachlorettes to act like they're as pure as the driven snow until they reach those nights in the Fantasy Suite. Even then, they're only supposed to talk about what happens there in terms of intimacy and "reaching new levels of closeness." Shakespearean sonnets are more graphic than the sex talk aired on The Bachelorette. Many viewers did not respect Kaitlyn's decision to have sex with Nick in Dublin, and they voiced their opinions on Twitter.

Kaitlyn asked viewers to think before rushing to judge her and her actions on last night's episode. A lot of fans defended her choice to sleep with Nick.

Even before the episode aired, Kaitlyn spoke openly about what happened. She remained firm in her stance that the physical side of a relationship is important to her, and that she would act on those feelings even in front of the cameras. "To feel chemistry with somebody has a lot to do with being physical. I don't know why that's such a shock to people!" she told E! in May. "It's 2015. The Kardashians talk about sex on the show all the time. I think it's just a big deal because it's The Bachelorette, and they've never really gone there. It's just been this secret world in the Fantasy Suite." The reason Kaitlyn had to "apologize for having sex," as the trailer for the season implied, was not because she regretted it. Kaitlyn knew that Nick would tell the other men what had happened (he famously opened up about having sex with Andi Dorfman in the Fantasy Suite on her season), and she worried that it would affect her relationships with the other contestants. "[T]hat's where I got upset, and that's what made me cry and break my heart — thinking about if I just ruined another relationship because it was hard to juggle all those relationships and know exactly what was right and what was wrong," she told People. Nick Viall sent out several tweets after the episode aired. "Kaitlyn showed a lot of courage by admitting 2 having sex on national TV knowing that she will be unfairly judged by some... Sex is not shameful. Whether we admit it or not, sex is important part of many serious and meaningful relationships... God only knows where Twitter would be if people lived by the saying 'he who is without sin should cast the first stone?'" Touché, Nick.