The Bachelor star Juan Pablo Galavis says he apologized to Clare Crawley for last week's self-described "controversial" ocean incident.

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"We talked, we talked. With Clare, things got clear. I expressed to her that I apologized because it was my mistake that night," Galavis said during a Monday appearance on Good Morning America.

Last week's episode featured Crawley asking Galavis to join her for an ocean swim in the middle of the night after a group date, and he enthusiastically agreed.

But after he had some time to think, Galavis regretted his decision and told the bachelorette what they had done was wrong -- prompting viewers and the media to speculate they had sex in the water. Crawley was very hurt and taken aback by Galavis' change of heart, and previews for Monday night's broadcast suggest the couple will continue their heated conversation.

"At four in the morning, I was watching baseball and it was funny because I was in Vietnam and I was kind of watching baseball and falling asleep and she knocked on my door. She caught me off-guard and she was so excited about the whole day that to me, 'Oh you want to go into the ocean for the first time?!' I was like, 'Sure!'" Galavis explained.

"And then in the morning, I was like, 'I should've said no because it wasn't fair for the other 10 girls that were in the room...' I would rather make [Clare] feel bad at the time than make her feel better later, but you know what? She had a rose and that's why I wanted to address it as soon as possible at the Rose Ceremony."

Galavis insisted while viewers will watch a jam-packed two-hour episode tonight, four days of filming were edited together and therefore many lengthy conversations that took place that will not get shown.

Also in his GMA interview, Galavis addressed another recent controversy in which he had expressed disapproval over the idea of ABC potentially having a gay Bachelor star on the reality dating series. Galavis had told The TV Page last month that [gay relationships] "are more pervert in a sense," sparking public uproar and apologies.

"It was a misuse of a word in English. People don't understand it and it's been hard," said the 32-year-old Venezuela native, reiterating how his language barrier also got him into trouble multiple times while filming The Bachelor's eighteenth season.  

"Sometimes the words that I used were not interpreted the way that they should be or I use the wrong word. So I will go on my phone on Google, find the right word and do it that way. I have family, I have friends -- I've been around gay people my whole life. I have a cousin who is gay. His sister is a nun. So it's been around my house all my life. So, to me, it was just a misunderstanding."

Galavis suggested in order to avoid conflict, everyone just needs to respect one another.

"I learned that people just need to worry about their lives, [and me], my life. It's about respect. I respect everybody. It doesn't matter the color of their skin, their religion -- we've just got to respect everybody the way that they are because they were born that way. And as long as we respect each other, I think we're going to be good," Galavis explained.

The Bachelor's next episode airs tonight at 8PM ET/PT on ABC.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.