Former television host Chris Harrison has broken his social media silence to respond to longtime viewers of the show who watched him helm The Bachelor, Bachelorette, and Bachelor in Paradise, a post he held for almost 20 years.
This came on the heels of a controversy that plagued Harrison after he seemingly defended former The Bachelor contestant Rachael Kirkconnell when speaking of her involvement in racially insensitive imagery. Kirkconnell dressed in antebellum period clothing during an Old South plantation party while a student in college.
His remarks, which were made to former series contestant Rachel Lindsay on the television show Extra, led to backlash from former contestants of the series as well as some fans, who were unhappy with his defense of the young woman, where he asked for grace for Kirkconnell for photos taken just three years prior.
Harrison would step back from his duties on the series in March of this year, ahead of the television special, The Bachelor: After the Final Rose, where his spot was taken by Emmanuel Acho. The motivational speaker spoke to Bachelor lead Matt James about the issues of race as well as addressing the photos with Kirkconnell.
While he initially was thought to be taking a temporary leave from the show Harrison and Bachelor execs would come to an agreement in May of this year when they announced he would no longer participate in the series and that former Bachelor Nation stars Kaitlyn Bristowe and Tayshia Adams would temporarily step in as hosts of The Bachelorette.
Since then, Harrison has been quite silent on social media, until July 21.
Chris Harrison reached out to fans on Twitter
A viewer shared a tweet where they tagged the former television host and shared how much they missed him.
In response, Harrison stated how much he missed them as well in the remarks seen below.
These were his first comments on Twitter since February 10, when he apologized to Bachelor Nation for the remarks he previously made to Lindsay in defense of Kirkconnell’s actions.
Fans responded enthusiastically to Chris Harrison’s tweets
Upon reading Harrison’s statements, fans reached out to the beloved television personality on the social media site.
One fan said in a tweet shared below that their family and friends quit watching when Harrison exited the reality dating series.
A second viewer claimed that after all the controversy surrounding Rachael Kirkconnell and Matt James’ relationship, the couple is together while Chris is out of a job.
A third fan claimed that the show has “lost its soul” without the longtime host in the tweet seen above.
The Bachelorette airs Mondays at 8/7c on ABC.