Chris Harrison just announced that he will be stepping down temporarily from his role as the host of The Bachelor and all its spinoffs.
This news comes amid a growing racism scandal involving The Bachelor frontrunner Rachael Kirkconnell over the past few weeks.
Chris Harrison became the subject of outrage after appearing in an interview for Extra with Rachel Lindsay after demanding that viewers give Rachael time to explain herself and then invoking the term “woke police” in an interview that was thought to be disrespectful at the very least.
Harrison’s announcement comes after Matt James threw his support to Rachel Lindsay and Rachael Kirkconnell issued an apology, taking full responsibility for her actions
What did Chris Harrison actually say?
In his latest apology, Chris Harrison addressed his role in the growing scandal after his interview with Rachel Lindsay.
On Instagram, Chris shared a 2-page message to fans, where he apologized again. Then, he revealed that he won’t be appearing on Matt James’ After The Rose special as he is taking a break from Bachelor Nation.
He wrote, in part, “By excusing historical racism, I defended it. I invoked the term ‘woke police,’ which is unacceptable. I am ashamed over how uninformed I was. I was so wrong.”
After apologizing again to the Black community and to BIPOC, he insisted that he is listening and even thanked those who have been having those hard conversations with him, helping the longtime Bachelor host to understand just how egregious his words really were.
Then, telling Bachelor Nation that “This historic season of The Bachelor should not be marred or overshadowed by my mistakes or diminished by my actions,” he revealed that he “will not join for the After The Final Rose special.”
Is Chris Harrison leaving The Bachelor franchise forever?
Many are worried that Chris Harrison’s statement means that he is leaving The Bachelor franchise forever but that is not the case.
The famous host only said that he won’t be present at the After The Final Rose special. He didn’t say anything about the upcoming filming for The Bachelorette and beyond.
At this point, we can expect Harrison to return to his role as host sooner rather than later as he has made it clear that his departure is only temporary.
The Bachelor airs Mondays at 8/7c on ABC.