A female contestant on ABC’s The Bachelor, who refused to kiss the show’s ‘bachelor’ Sean Lowe on Monday night’s episode, has revealed she rejected his advances because she didn’t want to offend her Muslim family.
As a reality TV program that prides itself on the explicit romantic interactions between cast members, Selma Alameri’s refusal to came as a shock to many viewers.’I can’t kiss you,’ the 29-year-old told Mr Lowe after a day of rock climbing. ‘My mom — she’s very strict in her culture.’The dating contestant continued: ‘We’re not even allowed to date, basically — not that we’re not allowed to date. Obviously we’re allowed to date… In our culture we sort of keep it secret from everyone.
‘Chris Harrison, the host of The Bachelor, elaborated on Miss Alameri’s refusal to kiss Lowe, telling Entertainment Weekly: ‘Selma is Iraqi. She was born Muslim. I don’t believe she is now, but her family is, and they’re very strict and very conservative.”While she doesn’t necessarily have the same beliefs as her family, she definitely respects her family and their wishes. Just being on the show, as you’ll see, is a huge deal for her.
‘To date out loud is not custom, obviously. When you cross the physicality of the show — emotions and kissing and where it goes — they have to deal with that.’She has to explain to Sean what’s going on. And Sean, it’s very interesting because he’s a very Christian man and wears his emotions and religion on his sleeve.It’s why I love this show: It’s such a great social study, these two religions coming together and having to deal with this situation. People always say, ‘I wish you guys would do more real-life stuff.’ This is very real life.”’
While Miss Alaneri, the owner and CEO of real estate compnay Brio Ventures LLC in San Diego, assured Mr Lowe that she wanted to kiss him, she explained she keeps her relationships ‘hush, hush,’ adding that romantic displays are ‘a big deal’ for her mother.In a recent interview, Mr Lowe, a born-again virgin said that because his Christian faith is front and center in his life, it would be impossible for him not to be with somebody who shares his beliefs.
In his blog for People magazine, he revealed his thoughts on Miss Alaneri’s refusal.’The no-kissing thing made our relationship more exciting because I had something to look forward to,’ he wrote.’Plus, Selma’s heart and personality were more than enough. Selma left with a rose and with a piece of my heart. Once again, I was starting to fall for another woman. – DailyMail
