Why Bachelorette's Mike Planeta Is Saving Himself for Marriage

Mike Planeta, who is vying for Katie Thurston's heart, discussed his choice to stay a virgin during season 17 of 'The Bachelorette' — more

Standing by his words. During season 17 of The Bachelorette, Mike Planeta revealed to Katie Thurston that he is a virgin — and it’s a life choice he continues to stand by.

“If you truly are convicted in something like this — and for me, I’m convicted, because I told Katie this and she started laughing, [but] I believe wholeheartedly God grabs the most rotten ones the earliest,” Mike, 31, said during the “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast with Becca Kufrin and Tayshia Adams on Tuesday, June 29. “I was one of the most rotten ones when I was born. [God] was like, ‘You do not get to experience a lot of these things because you’re going to get in trouble.'”

Bachelorettes Mike 5 Things Know About Virgin Katies Season — The Bachelorette’s Mike. ABC/Craig Sjodin

Contrary to what some may think, practicing abstinence affected Mike’s romantic relationships in a positive way.

“Knowing that about myself, it was almost like a layer of protection, where it was like, ‘No, you don’t get to do this.’ You … have to honor her and you have to show her that there’s so much more that you see in her, right?” he noted. “And there’s so much more that you want for her. You want to elevate her.”

The former baseball player feels like plenty of men “need to make a change” when it comes to how they treat women and how they approach sex.

“What’s a way to do that? For me … one of the biggest desires in my heart is, obviously, to have sex, you know, with my wife. It’s like, ’Ok, well, then you need to put in work before you’re granted that gift.’ Right? So that’s how I view it,” he clarified.

Mike explained how important communication is in any relationship.

“If you’re a man and that’s something that you’re struggling with, or you’re feeling insecure about owning it but you’re doing it for a reason, you’re convicted … for a reason. So find out what that reason is, understand it, and then, you know, verbalize it to your future spouse or your girlfriend,” he added.

Mike previously opened up about his decision to remain a virgin until marriage during a recent episode of the ABC reality dating show.

“Most people when they see me, they think I’m a huge player,” Mike told ABC cameras in his intro package. “But that’s not morally where I’m at. So I’m waiting for marriage, I’ve never had sex. The stigma is, like, ‘Oh, you can’t connect with that.’ But I disagree with that. I want Katie to understand that I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being sex-positive. I personally want to share that in within marriage, that’s me. I mean, if I fall in love with Katie, maybe that’s something that we can, you know, take that road together.”

Katie, 30, is known as the “sex-positive” Bachelorette, but Mike’s commitment to his virgin status wasn’t a dealbreaker.

“I will say, you’ll have to find out how that relationship goes, but I was pleasantly surprised,” the season 25 Bachelor alum told Us Weekly exclusively earlier this month.

The Bachelorette airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.