Sometimes people throw around the phrase “I love you" like Oprah giveaways. Other times, it takes a little longer for someone to reach that point—and that’s exactly what happened for Peter Kraus on TheBachelorette.
On Monday night’s episode, contestants had their hometown dates. Peter and Rachel had the most adorable date in Peter's hometown of Madison, WI. The couple meandered through a farmer’s market, met Peter's friends and had a down-to-earth conversation with Peter’s mom. (I'm not crying, you are!) During this date, we learned that marriage is scary to Peter and that he’s definitely got some emotional walls up. But hey, he and Rachel have only known each other a few weeks, and who’s ready for marriage that soon?
Peter didn't drop the love bomb, which caused "fans" to leave death threats in the comments of Peter's Instagram. Not cool, guys. Now Peter has responded to let people know their words hurt.
According to Refinery29, in an Instagram comment, Peter wrote, “All I can say is that I am sorry to those who wanted me to tell Rachel that I was in love with her tonight after what was essentially two dates. As I stated many times on the show before, I do not take those three words lightly, as once they are said they can never be taken back, and to the person that you choose to say them to, they can hold enormous weight.” He’s so thoughtful!
He went on to say, “So rather than race to say something that is of such GREAT importance to me, and I wish was of more importance to others, I chose to take my time in getting to know this woman as much as I possibly could before choosing to express those three words to her.” That’s kind of the sweetest thing ever.
“I did not realize that being honest and forthright with my feelings and emotions and allowing her to make an informed decision based off of me being as open as possible, as hard as it was for me to go through, would warrant such hate and anger and even now death threats via social media and email," he continued. "I have always been one to encourage the spread of love, but giving your heart to someone for the rest of your life is not something that I take at all lightly or for granted and I wish that people could see that, rather than take me down so violently and without regard to the fact that I am still human." Yeah, he's only human. Hateful and threatening comments are absolutely ridiculous responses to a person not saying "I love you" to someone they've only known for a short period of time.
"I hope that people will take a moment to look within themselves and at their own lives to find compassion and understanding rather than forming judgment and spreading hate. And that goes for the awful things that are being said to other cast members of mine as well," Peter wrote. "I am so happy to have been able to share this experience with you all, but know that your words do TRULY hurt and affect me AND them. Thank you for those who have had my back throughout and for all the understanding and kind words that have also been said. Much love to you all.”
He’s just not ready to say it, and honestly, I can’t blame him. Much love to you, too, Peter!
