HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Jake Pavelka has heard the rumors floating around the Web that he's gay, accusations that he calls nonsense.
The Bachelor star addressed the gay reports Wednesday when he appeared on ABC's The View. The topic arose when the female panel pressed him for details about ex Vienna Girardi's claims that he refused to be intimate before their relationship exploded into a nasty breakup.
"There was a lack of intimacy because our problems were so heavy," he explained. "I can't separate, you know, love and intimacy. I guess that's the Southern guy in me. And apparently that makes me gay."
Pavelka said he hasn't spoken to Girardi since their fiery sit-down on The Bachelorette last month. He also defended his behavior during the interview, insisting he was caught off-guard by their sudden split.
"What people don't understand is, that was 24 hours after my [publicist] called me on the set of Drop Dead Diva saying the relationship was over," he explained. "She didn't call me, it was a publicist."
"24 hours later, I'm sitting there and I wasn't ready," the pilot continued. "You know when you're kids and you're trying to protect yourself? It was like that."
Pavelka also defended himself when Whoopi Goldberg called his appearance on the ABC reality series an "acting job."
"When I got down on one knee, I meant it," he said of his proposal to Girardi. "I still believe that you can find love on that show."
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