‘The Bachelorette’: Is the Show Getting Postponed Because of Chris Harrison?
Everything in the world of The Bachelor is up in the air now that Chris Harrison is taking a break from the show. Harrison’s hiatus is not a vacation, rather it was kind of forced on the host after he did an interview where he defended contestant Rachael Kirkconnell’s attendance at an Old South antebellum party. Now, people are wondering what will happen to the next show in the franchise’s line up. Will The Bachelorette be postponed because of Harrison?
What happened in Chris Harrison’s interview with Rachel Lindsay?
When Harrison did an interview with former Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay, he basically excused Kirkconnell’s attendance at the Old South party by saying that things like that weren’t as bad in 2018 as they are now.
“Is it a good look in 2018 or is it not a good look in 2021?” he said. “I don’t disagree with you. You’re 100 percent right — in 2021. That was not the case in 2018. Again, I’m not defending Rachael. I just know, I don’t know, 50 million people did that in 2018… that was a type of party that a lot of people went to.”
Fans were not feeling his dismissal of Lindsay’s concerns or excusal of Kirkconnell’s actions and called for him to be fired.
Chris Harrison takes a break
After Harrison apologized for his actions, he announced that he would not be attending the After the Final Rose ceremony in order to prevent further distraction from this monumental season of The Bachelor.
“This historic season of ‘The Bachelor’ should not be marred or overshadowed by my mistakes or diminished by my actions,” he wrote in an Instagram post. “To that end, I have consulted with Warner Bros. and ABC and will be stepping aside for a period of time and will not join for the After the Final Rose special.”
Because Harrison only explicitly stated that he would be stepping away for one episode of the show, fans and Bachelor alum have been concerned that he will return too soon and without taking the proper time to learn from what he did. Some, like former Bachelorette contestant Ivan Hall, have even said that if Harrison returns for Bachelor in Paradise, they might not do the show.
Is ‘The Bachelorette’ being postponed because of Chris Harrison?
There has been a lot of concern as to how The Bachelor is going to handle the rest of Matt James’ season as Harrison is undoubtedly in all of the pre-taped episodes. In fact, as the women dwindle down, Harrison typically appears more in the final episodes than he does earlier in the competition every season. There has been talk of editing some of Harrison’s scenes out or adding a disclaimer to the show, though none of that has been done.
“There have been conversations about pushing the Bachelorette back,” a source told Us Weekly.
Though nothing official has been announced about whether The Bachelorette will be postponed or not, a later film date would give Harrison more time to actually make good on his promises to learn from what he did. First, fans will have to wait and see who Harrison is replaced with for the After the Final Rose ceremony.
