Chris Harrison on 'The Bachelor: After the Final Rose' and the Controversial 'Bachelorette' Decision
I wanted to follow up today and finish my thoughts on Monday night’s show, especially After the Final Rose. It was interesting to see Chris and Becca together on stage. While they clearly have both moved on, it was also clear to me that there were strong feelings there at one point. But seeing them together only reaffirms what I said in the last blog. The two of them are just at very different places in their lives. Chris really liked Becca, maybe even loved her, but she’s just not right for him and it never would’ve worked.
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I can tell you now that for the last three weeks of the show Whitney was the heavy favorite. When we were in Bali, the only thing Chris was positive about was Whitney. He was torn between Kaitlyn and Becca, and honestly could’ve gone either way that day — but Whitney was always guaranteed a spot. It was great to bring them back together and see how happy they are. Whitney may be one of the smartest bachelorettes we’ve ever had, because she didn’t watch the show when it aired. I like her perspective: She feels completely confident in what they have and she doesn’t need to know what else happened. I hope she will keep this attitude, as they will undoubtedly start dealing with crap being written in the tabloids. Chris is now off to dance with the other Witney on Dancing With the Stars. While I don’t love this for them, I totally understand and don’t begrudge him this opportunity. I’ve given Chris a hard time about how terrible of a dancer he is, but the truth is I think he might surprise people. More importantly, I’m extremely happy for Chris and Whitney. I support them 100 percent and will do everything in my power to help them make this transition and continue on as a successful couple.
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Now lets talk about that little announcement about having two bachelorettes. First I’ll explain behind the scenes what really happened. Despite what the “spoilers” would lead you to believe, we don’t make a decision quickly or easily. In fact this decision wasn’t made until days before we announced it.
It really came down to three women: Becca, Kaitlyn, and Britt. As you saw, Becca just isn’t in a place in her life where she’s ready to be the Bachelorette. So that left us with a great debate over Kaitlyn and Britt, and this was a heated debate. I’m not sure what it is about this season, but people are incredibly polarized over these women. Typically there are people campaigning for certain favorites, but this season it got nasty. I got tweets and messages from fans who promised they were done with the show if Kaitlyn became the Bachelorette, and I got the same messages concerning Britt. As I said, even our staff was divided. So while the Internet was alive with completely premature and false spoilers, we were hard at work trying to make a final decision. Was this the right decision?
I guess ultimately you’ll let us know when the show premieres on May 18. But I do know that there wasn’t an easy choice. I like both of these ladies and I know they like each other, which is interesting. When we did this before back in Season 6 with Byron Velvick, the two guys didn’t know each other, and so the dynamic was very different. I know the debate is far from over concerning this decision which only reaffirms everything I’ve said above.
It was a great season of The Bachelor, and I know this because it was capped off with Jimmy Kimmel giving our happy couple a cow on set last night.
I want to give a special thanks to Jimmy for being such a proud true member of Bachelor Nation. It was fun having him involved this season and I know we’ll have more good times with him in the future. As I said Monday night, I want to thank the rest of Bachelor Nation for all of your support and enthusiasm. I know some of you are fired up about the dual Bachelorettes and I appreciate that very much. The fact that you are fired up means you care. I can’t promise we’ll always do exactly what you want us to, but I will make this promise: We will continue to work our butts off to keep the franchise strong and this show as entertaining, successful, and sincere as it can possibly be. With that I say goodbye for now, and I wish Britt and Kaitlyn the very best as they start their journey to find love. Oh and Ashley S., I’ll see you on Bachelor in Paradise this summer.
The Bachelorette premieres May 18 on ABC.
