Confession is said to be good for the soul, but it may also be good for publicity too.
On this week’s episode of her faith-centered Stay True podcast, former Bachelor contestant Madison Prewett Troutt admitted to once struggling with addictions to p0rnography and masturbation, a revelation that’s garnered attention from celebrity publications and strong reactions from Bachelor Nation.
“Thankfully, by the grace of God and by the power of godly community and people around me, I have been free from p0rn and masturbation for, I don’t know, 10 years, but that was something that enslaved me and marked me for so long, that was something I felt like I could not break free from,” Madison said on the podcast episode titled “Porn & Masturbation: Harmless Habit or Spiritual Stronghold?”
“Every time I gave in to sexual sin I was robbed of confidence, I questioned my worth and my identity,” she said. “Every time I gave in to sexual sin I didn’t know my purpose. I felt confused. I didn’t have clarity; I wasn’t led by conviction.”
Madison, who was the runner-up on Peter Weber‘s season of ‘The Bachelor’ in 2020, traced her addictions back to watching what she described as an inappropriate television show at a friend’s house in middle school.
“I just remember I had never watched anything like that before and my body started feeling things I had never felt before and I started wondering things I had never wondered before, and desiring it and wanting it, and so I left that time with my friend and, like, genuinely so curious about that and wanting it more,” she said.
From there, she sought out similar content online and eventually began masturbating. As she grew older, Madison said her romantic relationships were affected by her experiences with p0rnography and masturbation.
“When I would start dating someone I pushed so many boundaries physically and I knew, because I was raised, my parents told me the importance of keeping your body for God and for your spouse and the importance of pursuing purity, like that had been modeled and that had been, you know, briefly talked about. I was raised in Assemblies of God church and sex was a big no-no, do not have sex, do not have sex, do not have sex, but the question mark was around everything else,” she said.
Madison described the shame she felt during this time and how that shame kept her from talking about her issues with p0rnography and masturbation with anyone.
Every time I fell into sexual sin and gave into sexual sin my relationship– not only with God but with other believers– felt divided, felt tense,” she said. “I didn’t know how to engage in those conversations because I was so bound by shame.”
Madison said that, sometime in her late teens, she confessed to a friend who admitted to dealing with the same issue. Confession, according to Madison, is what helped her break these addictions around a decade ago.
Fans of Madison and ‘The Bachelor’ had a range of responses to her revelations, from praising her for her bravery in talking about these self-proclaimed “addictions,” to criticizing the toxicity and hypocrisy of purity culture.
“I just truly hope this is her lead in to how she discovered that purity culture is toxic and creates an unhealthy relationship with sex,” wrote one ‘Bachelor’ fan on Reddit.
“So strange that people like Maddie always choose to focus on the sins Jesus never mentioned and ignore the huge ones that He did. But I guess Maddie doesn’t love Jesus enough to shake the big sins He highlighted, like love of money or self-righteousness,” wrote another.
Madison has been married to Grant Troutt, a minister and the son of billionaire Kenny Troutt, since 2022. The pair welcomed their first child in January. On her podcast, she claimed that she still struggles to keep from going back to her “sinful” ways, even though she’s married.
“It’s still a choice for me every single day, even as a married woman, to not return back to the past of my sexual sin addictions.”
Some fans questioned the motivation behind Madison’s admissions.
“The fact that she’s talking about how she ‘overcame’ this ‘sin’ in public for fame and profit is, ironically, actually legitimately sinful,” a ‘Bachelor’ fan posted to Reddit.
For at least one fan, the timing of Madison’s confession to podcast listeners is questionable.
“She has a new book, people. This is a fabulous publicity stunt,” the fan wrote on Reddit.
Madison’s third book, Dare to Be True: Defeat the Lies That Bind You and Live Out the Truth That Frees You, is coming out in September. While contending that this week’s episode wasn’t a plug for her new book, Madison did share that the theme of the book is about overcoming sin and that the book includes a chapter on purity. She also said that she’ll talk more about her experiences with what she referred to as “sexual sin” in future podcast episodes.
Watch the full Stay True episode below.
(Photos: Instagram)
16 Responses
Are you kidding me? The husband won’t have sex with her because he is satisfying himself with the porn. When he sees his wife and tries to have sex with her she can’t keep up and doesn’t look like the people in the porn. Yes, it is causing physical problems which leads to communications problems which leads to trust problems in their relationship. It has nothing to do with our weird Jesus beliefs. My husband and myself are counselors. We see this all the time.
You should both get a different job, because you’re terrible at this.
Literally everything starts with communication, it doesn’t, and didn’t, start with porn and masturbation or anything physical at all. Communication is the backbone of every single relationship, full stop. It ALWAYS starts and ends there. Any counselor worth a lick would know this.
I’m guessing you’re really just “church counselors”, if even that. This must be some weird jesus only wants penises and vaginas to touch-but not too much-, anything outside of that which is remotely sexually pleasing must be wicked, sinful and deserving of self flagellation sort of deal for you and your belief system. That is the only instance where your type of “counseling”, or the strange way you’re describing the issue is used. Jesus doesn’t have anything against masturbation, sex or sexual arousal outside of missionary intercourse dear, some of his best friends were whores, and that’s okay!
Porn definitely causes problems in relationships, and it’s getting worse with younger men who began looking at porn younger and younger (prior to puberty). It seriously rewires a brain.
I’m willing to bet she and her husband see A LOT of this as therapists, whether secular or not. Who are you to imply they are whack jobs for simply stating what they’ve seen?
Good for her for staying away from porn. And good for her for kicking an addiction, whatever that addiction might have been.
Man, so much keyboard cowboy/gile judgement. Might I suggest reading a book like “The Let Them Theory”? 🙂
For the religious sort…..
God gave you nooks, crannies and bits to use, might as well make good of them while ya got them. If god didn’t want us playing with them, he wouldn’t give us toys and ways to make them feel good. Again, the stipulation that one should never harm another in their own personal play, obviously (shouldn’t need to be said, but always does anyway). Also, God has never said a single word against playing with your own self. Religious leaders are the ones who call masturbation sexual immorality, not god, it’s not defined as such in the bible, either. While there may be passages about other somewhat related topics, god’s cool with you using what he gave you for your own pleasure. It does also say (in leviticus, specifically ch 15) you should clean yourself after you’re done, btw, so, make sure you do that. Go ahead, ask him, he’s pretty chill like that.
For the non-religious sort….
Get ‘er done, play nice, don’t hurt others, clean up your messes….go do you
Purity culture is disgusting.
As I keep saying, there’s an agenda to normalize dysfunction. I don’t even believe this story. Do you?
I believe her. Why in the world would you make that up about yourself and tell everyone? Book coming out or not, certainly not the stigma I would choose.
She’s literally making money off it, that’s the only reason she’s talking about it. Though I don’t think this is a “don’t or do believe” situation.
There is no general stigma surrounding people admitting they take part in masturbation, lmao, I don’t know why people think there would be one. No one really gives a rap if you double click your mouse or crank your shaft to your heart’s content, as long as you’re not harming others with your play. Although some might think it a taboo subject for public/certain crowd discussion, that’s not really a stigma surrounding the act itself.
Really though this is showcasing how much of a cult her “religion” (and this applies to most religion, really) is, in that SHE personally feels it should be something shameful (and not just for her, but everyone) because she was raised to believe it should be. This is where a stigma would come into play-but it’s a forced one that only people who hold the same religious beliefs she does would have-not one society in general would. It’s one more indication of how judgmental most “religions” are of not just their own people, but, everyone.
I personally think pornography is disguising. Masterbation is a distant second. I think both ruin marriages and relationships. My husband is counseling a family now for the same stuff. The wife feels unwanted and the man gets his quick pleasure from porn and masterbation. Their marriage is falling apart.
You’re free to have whatever beliefs you want, we don’t have to agree.
I think both you and your husband, along with the couple, have some misguided beliefs about what is truly hurting their marriage, though. The dude cranking his shaft, ain’t it. Them not being able to communicate about what they need and/or want, both as individuals and as a couple, is. If he got off super quick while they were going at it but didn’t make time to ensure she does too, would sex be the problem? No, his lack of concern for her would be the problem, possibly compounded by her not telling him it’s a problem. His rocket exploding without giving her a proper touchdown is just a consequence of the initial problem…..LACK OF COMMUNICATION. Hell they could both probably use a good self-induced release, now and again.
I wouldn’t trust someone who “counsels” others and doesn’t actually look at the big picture and the real problem, and instead blames something like masturbation for a very obvious issue…like, wtf, lmao.
Yeah, it’s definitely sex and nothing to do with your weird Jesus cult🙄🙄. Why are the god squad ppl so weird about sex?? It’s strange and very creepy
You can’t even spell ‘masturbation’ correctly!
What planet do you live on? 😂 Of course there’s a general (aka mainstream society) stigma against masturbation – but ESPECIALLY for women! It’s STILL such a taboo topic, even for Millennials and Gen Z.
Um, yes? Though this definitely wouldn’t be something most women would admit to lol. Vibrators and dildos, yes, but not raw dogging with just your hand 😂