The Bachelor's Chris Harrison teases a tell-all on his exodus via a new podcast
Long-time Bachelor host Chris Harrison stepped down after defending former contestant Rachel Kirkconnell's attendance at a plantation-themed party
For The Bachelor’s Chris Harrison, a new year also means a new opportunity to open up about his somewhat-disgraced exodus from the franchise. The veteran host last had his hands near the roses in 2021, but left in the midst of a racism controversy. Now, with a new podcast, Harrison appears to be planning on addressing the end of his hosting tenure.
“I have not spoken publicly for two years about this, and I have a lot of thoughts. I think about this every day,” Harrison shares in the one-minute preview for the podcast, set to begin airing on January 9, 2023. “Truly every day of my life I think about this and what I want to say and how important it is that I speak to everyone for the first time. So, it’s heavy. It’s really heavy.”
Given the exceedingly vague, wildly dramatic trailer (that lives up to the podcast’s name, by god!) some background is in order. Back in 2021, Harrison was removed from the franchise after an interview with former Bachelorette (and Extra TV host) Rachel Lindsay drew criticism for comments Harrison made about former Bachelor contestant Rachel Kirkconnell.
During the conversation, Harrison defended Kirkconnell’s attendance at a plantation-themed sorority party when she was a student at Georgia College & State University. In the fiery aftermath of the interview, Harrison apologized for “excusing historical racism” before taking a temporary hiatus from The Bachelor in 2021—his exodus from the franchise became permanent five months later.
In the trailer, Harrison can be heard questioning the fate of the project. “We’ll see how it goes,” he says. “We may scrap this whole thing, to be honest, I don’t know… but I think it will be cathartic. I’m looking forward to getting this off my shoulders and repairing this, moving forward, and letting everybody hear from me.”
The trailer concludes with an introduction, as vague yet allusive as the rest of Harrison’s dialogue. “Welcome to The Most Dramatic Podcast Ever,” he introduces the series. “I’m Chris Harrison. I think it’s time we talk.”