By Lisa Respers France, CNN

(CNN) -- There is always buzz after "The Bachelorette" makes her choice, but this season's controversy started well before the finale.

In the episode that aired Monday night, Becca Kufrin, 28, made her selection between the finalists Blake Horstmann and Garrett Yrigoyen.

Kufrin went with Yrigoyen, and she accepted his proposal of marriage.

But right after the season 14 began, Yrigoyen found himself involved in a scandal because of some of his social media activity.

Yrigoyen, 29, "liked" some racist and homophobic Instagram posts.

In May, he used the platform to apologize for what he called "a mindless double tap on Instagram" after he deleted his old account.

"I am sorry to those who I offended, and I also take full responsibility for my 'likes' on Instagram that were hurtful and offensive," he wrote. "garret_yrigs12 was my former Instagram handle and I decided to take it down and start fresh because I have learned an extremely valuable lesson and am taking steps to grow, become more educated, and be a better version of myself. I am not perfect, and I will never be anywhere close, but now I will always be more informed and aware of what I am liking and supporting, not just on Instagram, but in life."

At the time, Kufrin asked fans to give Yrigoyen a chance.

"I came into this knowing I was going to meet a handful of men that came from different backgrounds and different walks of life," she told The Hollywood Reporter. "I wanted to just be open to everyone, and I hope that the viewers can do the exact same thing."

On Monday night the couple addressed the controversy with host Chris Harrison during the "After the Final Rose" special.

Yrigoyen reiterated his apology and said he is "just trying to grow as a person and be a better person on a daily basis."

"She's helping me through everything," he said. "We've been honest and open and transparent with one another since the beginning, and when that all came out, we attacked it because I feel like when I was liking things, it was going against things she stands for and that made it really hard on us as a couple."

He said he worried it might end his relationship with Kufrin, but she said, "I got to see who he is, his heart, his soul."

"The Instagram situation, I don't condone that and I know that he stands by his apology and he feels so bad for everyone that he did offend," she said. "He didn't mean it. But I just want to move forward, to learn and to grow and continue to educate ourselves."

Over on Twitter not everyone loved Kufrin's selection, but it seems some had resigned themselves to her choice even before it was announced.

"Me preparing to watch the #BacheloretteFinale knowing good and well Becca is probably about to pick Garrett and I'm going to be mad," one viewer tweeted.