The Most Dramatic Chris Harrison Diatribe Ever

Chris Harrison was the host of the Bachelor franchise for 19 years until he was ousted in February 2021 after an interview with Rachel Lindsay, the first black Bachelorette, in which he defended Season 25 winner Rachael Kirkconnell for appearing in photos of a plantation-themed party when she was in college, and for liking some racist posts even more recently.

Lindsay, of course, said such photos were “not a good look ever,” but Harrison felt Kirkconnell should have a chance to defend herself since they were old (well, five years old, so not that old) pictures. “We all need to have a little grace, a little understanding, a little compassion,” he said at the time.

He then issued a formal “apology” in an Instagram post that has since been removed, which read in part, “What I now realized I have done is cause harm by wrongly speaking in a manner that perpetuates racism, and for that I am so sorry.”

He also announced that, after consulting “with Warner Bros. and ABC” he would be “stepping aside for a period of time,” and further explained himself by saying, “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 wrong.”

At that point, the writing was on the wall.

But now, like the proverbial bad penny, he’s back and he’s changed his tune.

“What I went through was tumultuous. I don’t wish it on anybody,” Harrison said in conversation with Bachelor alum Jason Tartick on his “Trading Secrets” podcast this Monday. I’m going to give you the video, but I’m going to advise you against watching it. No man has ever loved the sound of his voice more. I think I aged ten years.

“It was horrifying on a lot of levels and something that I pray to God my worst enemy never goes through,” he said, adding, “But, with that said, I knew I had to remove myself from what became a very toxic situation.” While he said things could have been “figured” out between he and the networks to prevent his exit, it was ultimately his choice to leave.

“I had to remove myself from that toxic situation. And so I’m proud of that decision…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,” he said, joking that he basically built a home for his children on the “tears” of contestants like Tartick.

But he’s still grateful, of course: “I hold those things dear. It was a blessing. It changed my life, but at the same time I can also be grateful that I’m gone.”

Now, listen. The Bachelor franchise is toxic, that is not up for debate. But this conversation also proves that Harrison is equally toxic. He made no mention of the real reason he was fired—the racism—and the remorse of those Instagram apologies has vanished entirely. So, yeah. Crawl back into your hole, buddy.

Oh but wait, he also kind of said his leaving is the reason Bachelor ratings aren’t as good anymore. When talking about the competition within the reality dating show space, he said, “They all failed. They all took a shot at the champ and they failed. Once I left, people started taking their shots at the champ and they’ve succeeded. And now there’s competition.”

Enjoy your retirement, champ.