Former The Bachelor host Chris Harrison said it was a “blessing” to step down from the job after he defended a contestant’s photos.
Harrison, 52, quit as the host of the reality dating show in 2021 after 19 years in the role over comments he made about Bachelor contestant Rachael Kirkconnell attending a “plantation-themed” party in 2018.
He called for “a little understanding, a little compassion” for Kirkconnell, but the backlash was too much, and he stepped down. Now, he has opened up on life after The Bachelor saying he was glad he left the “toxic situation” and claimed the show was “going downhill” since his departure.
“I still look at this as a blessing in my life,” he explained of his exit during an interview on the Trading Secrets podcast. “It was hard at first. Obviously, it wasn’t immediate that I felt great about everything because what I went through was tumultuous. I don’t wish it on anybody. It was horrifying on a lot of levels and something that I pray to God my worst enemy never goes through.”
Harrison added: “But, with that said, I knew I had to remove myself from what became a very toxic situation.”
The Bachelor first aired in 2002 and has launched many successful spin-offs including The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise.
Harrison hosted the first 25 seasons of the ABC show, which has suffered a decline in ratings as it headed into its 27th iteration this year.
“Once I left, people started taking their shots at the champ, and they’ve succeeded, and now there’s competition, and now there’s shows [that] are in the zeitgeist, they’re being talked about, they’re getting press that we used to get,” Harrison said. “Again, it’s hard to survive when you don’t have those eyeballs anymore because people will talk about another show.”
The TV presenter argued producers of the show probably could have “figured out” how to handle the controversy, but he was glad to have made the decision to step down.
“I’m proud of that decision,” he said. “I’m proud that I handled it the way I did and I still look at [the show] as a blessing because it changed my life on so many levels.”
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But he likened it to “a relationship I don’t need to be in anymore because it wasn’t healthy.”
Harrison also treated his departure from the show like a breakup where he took his time to process what had happened.
“There was mourning a loss there, and I had to realize, like when I left my marriage, take your time and don’t just jump back into the next relationship,” he said. “That’s not the band-aid that’s gonna heal that wound.”
Joey Graziadei has been named as the new bachelor for the 28th season which will begin airing in January 2024.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.