Bachelorette Hannah talks Luke, sex and feeling empowered

The two came face-to-face at "The Bachelorette: Men Tell All" special.

ByGood Morning America via GMA logo
July 23, 2019, 4:05 AM

Hannah Brown was able to overlook Luke Parker's flaws during much of the production of "The Bachelorette," but the last straw came when he told her he wanted to leave if she'd had sex with any of the other contestants.

Hannah's response -- to tell him she had, as she showed him out -- created a must-see moment for fans of the franchise, who watched Luke cause problems throughout the season.

Being empowered means having power to make my own decisions. And I do have that and I know what I believe and the grace that I receive.

And last night, on "The Bachelorette: Men Tell All," Hannah came face-to-face with Luke once again, and told him -- and the world -- that she was tired of being shamed for having had sex.

"I think it is really important that as a woman that I am able to be empowered and I think being empowered means having power to make my own decisions. And I do have that and I know what I believe and the grace that I receive," she told "Good Morning America." "Just because I choose to do one thing with somebody doesn't mean that I'm a slut. And what even makes somebody a slut anyway?"

"So I'm really tired of any type of talk in that way," she continued. "That's why women feel insecure and unworthy and that's why we have so many issues ... it's because of the language that women use towards each other and that men feel like they have the right to use. We really need to change the way that we speak to each other."

After the episode aired in which Hannah and Luke finally broke up, the two engaged in a Twitter argument over religion and sex. Looking back, she told "GMA" that she kept him around because she'd been feeling insecure.

"And Luke, even though it might have been really bizarre, his intentions were for me and I believed that," she said. "I held on to that for a lot longer than I should have and held on to the intentions, and not really the truth of who he was."

Now, Hannah said that she's "found my truth," and thinks it's important to speak out on behalf of women everywhere.

"I've taken a lot of criticism but I know that I was put in this position to be able to speak my truth and there is a lot of people that can relate to the things that I've been through," she said. "It's no wonder people don't talk about really important things like faith and sexuality in the media because no matter what you do it's -- you're damned if you don't damned if you do. And I will not allow that to stop me from talking about the things that are important to me because more people need to be vocal about it."

"The Bachelorette" airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.

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