If you're a Bachelor fan, then by now, you're surely aware of the latest controversy surrounding the show -- and if social media is any indication, you've already formed a very strong opinion on the matter.
On Monday's episode, Madison Prewett issued an ultimatum to Peter Weber:
She informed the 28-year-old pilot that she would find it difficult to "move forward" with their relationship
Sticklers will point out that Madison stopped just shy of saying she would be forced to breakup with Peter if he had sex with one of the other remaining contestants, but her phrasing was about as subtle as that of a Mafia boss demanding protection money.
At the end of the conversation, Peter knew exactly where he stood.
And he went ahead and lived out his Fantasy Suite fantasy regardless.
When Prewett and Weber had their one-on-one date after his overnights with the other women, she hit him with another surprise:
It seems Madison is a virgin, who plans to save herself for marriage.
We had known about this for weeks, thanks to the ubiquity of Bachelor spoilers online, but for some reason, Peter was shocked to learn that the conservative Christian woman from the deep South whose family toasts with sweet tea at dinner harbors some old school ideas about sex and marriage.
“The day that I say ‘I do’ to the person that I want to spend the rest of my life with is the day that he’s getting all of me — body, soul, and spirit,” Madison told him during an intensely awkward dinner segment.
“I just can’t wrap my mind around, in a week from now, if you’re down on one knee and six days before that you slept with someone else.”
After some hemming and hawing and trying to get around the issue by claiming it wouldn't be gentlemanly to give away any details, Peter finally admitted to being "intimate" with Hannah Ann Sluss and/or Victoria Fuller (probably both).
“I 100 percent can see you and I together at the end,” Peter eventually told Madison.
“But I have to be honest with you, coming into this week I could see that with other people too. I hate that I can say that to you, but that’s the truth too.”
The date ended with a distressed Madison walking away from Peter.
A preview for next week's episode showed a rose ceremony with only Hannah Ann and Victoria in attendance.
Of course, if you know this show, you know that won't be the last we see of Prewett.
It might be weeks before we find out with any real certainty what becomes of Madison's relationship with Peter, and in the meantime, a heated debate is tearing Bachelor Nation in two.
Some are comparing Madison with Luke Parker, arguing that it was unfair of Prewett to put Peter in such a difficult position so late in the competition.
Others say her wholesome belief system is something the increasingly tawdry series could use more of.
Obviously, no one really knows what it's like to be a virgin on a show that's so wildly sex-centric.
Except, of course, for the people who have been there before.
Ashley Iaconetti is one such chaste former contestant.
She was a virgin throughout her stint on Chris Soules' season, and she opened up about her thoughts on the Madison situation in a recent conversation with Us Weekly.
“She told him about her faith a couple weeks ago, and he seemed receptive to it and wanted to grow in that department. In not telling him about her being a virgin, I feel like that’s fine,” Iaconetti told Us.
“As long as he knows before going into fantasy-suite week, I don’t really know that you need to tell him sooner. It’s a private thing that you probably don’t want to bring up until that point in this weird Bachelor process.”
The franchise's most famous virgin, Colton Underwood, also spoke out in support of Prewett..
"The mistake is thinking this is only about Peter, it takes two to have a relationship... no one is wrong here. She knows what she signed up for and she also knows what she stands for," he wrote on Instagram.
"Good on you @madiprew."
Two-time contestant Becca Tilley was a virgin throughout her time on Chris Soules' and Ben Higgins' season, and she added a new wrinkle to the debate this week by revealing that producers encouraged her to keep her V-card under wraps.
“The producers really encouraged me to wait until the fantasy suite to have that conversation and to be honest, I never thought anything about it,” she said via Instagram Stories.
“I never thought it would be a deal breaker. I was nervous just because it had been so hyped up all season, but I never thought he wouldn’t want to be with me because of that.”
Needless to say, it's a complex matter with valid arguments on both sides.
In the end, of course, there's nothing with Madison or with Peter.
But a game show that places so much importance on its contestants' virginity?
Yeah, there might be something just a little bit off about that.
