\n<\/p>\n
Advice like this is overtly provocative\u2014but Prewett Troutt says she doesn\u2019t want to spark discord with her words. \u201cI don\u2019t want there to be hatred and division and violence and loss and brokenness and sin,\u201d she says. \u201cI mean, those are things that are really hard to see and to witness. And I love everybody, so I want everyone to love everyone.\u201d To her, a religious revival seems like the solution to the country\u2019s woes. \u201cI don\u2019t think we have a political problem. I don\u2019t think we have a racial problem. I don\u2019t think we have a gender problem,\u201d she says. \u201cI think we need Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prewett Troutt grew up in a fairly cloistered world before she took a limo to The Bachelor<\/em>\u2019s crowded mansion in 2019. Raised in Alabama by her father, a coach for Auburn University\u2019s basketball team<\/a>, and mother, a Bible teacher, she was involved in her family\u2019s Assemblies of God church community and the wider evangelical subculture. After leaving The Bachelor,<\/em> she was hurt to see how other conservative Christians responded to her choice to participate in a reality dating show.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was really hard for me after I came off the show,\u201d she says. \u201cThere were some months where I really struggled with wanting to be a part of a church, because I felt so judged and hurt by the church.\u201d For months, Prewett Troutt says, she kept her distance.<\/p>\n But marrying Troutt brought her back into the fold\u2014and into a more modern church, where conservative theology goes hand-in-hand with athleisure and Nike Dunks. \u201cMy husband and I moved to Waco, Texas, right after we got married, and he was working at a local church called Harris Creek,\u201d she says. She credits their pastor, Jonathan Pokluda,<\/strong> with helping her develop as a public speaker.<\/p>\n Prewett Troutt\u2019s plan to present an aesthetically attractive Christianity to the wider world is not without its challenges. In July, a video of the Troutts laughing<\/a> about their eventual intention to spank their daughter\u2014they\u2019re currently parents to Hosanna,<\/strong> who was born in January 2025\u2014inspired widespread outrage on TikTok and YouTube. Over 500 commenters on The Bachelor<\/em>\u2019s subreddit<\/a> weighed in on the incident, and most of their remarks were strongly negative.<\/p>\n For Prewett Troutt\u2019s detractors, the spanking video was a reminder that despite her large reach, she is still firmly ensconced in a bubble. Even other evangelicals<\/a> complained that she and Troutt were repeating old, debunked ideas<\/a> about how Christians should raise their children, without having the experience to know that their advice could be harmful. Because she gained her audience through The Bachelor,<\/em> she may be less equipped to navigate the challenges of sharing unpopular views online as she\u2019d be if, say, she\u2019d spent those years debating atheists instead.<\/p>\n In the meantime, Prewett Troutt says that she and her husband are \u201clearning\u201d from the negative reaction to the spanking video. \u201cI always want to listen before I speak. I always want to take it to God and ask him to lead me and guide me,\u201d she says. \u201cWe take it to wise counsel and just say, like, \u2018Hey, where did we mess up? Where did we fall short? Can y\u2019all be praying for this?\u2019 And so that\u2019s what we\u2019ve done.\u201d<\/p>\n And for now, the criticism she\u2019s gotten for remarks that seem out of step with modern culture are only making her more determined to stay the course. \u201cI think there\u2019s always something to learn anytime you get backlash,\u201d she says. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t make me want to shrink back or speak out less. It actually just makes me want to be even more bold, and be even more unashamed of God\u2019s truth that I believe is the only thing that\u2019ll set us free.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n