Rachel Lindsay wasn't expecting the latest Bachelor franchise news.
The former Bachelorette shared her reaction to the recent announcement about Chris Harrison's permanent exit from the show — and she was actually pretty surprised.
"I gotta say, I am [shocked]. I wasn’t expecting for it to happen, not after the announcement," Lindsay said on Extra.
She went on to note that fans can only "speculate" the specific reasons behind his departure and shared her own theories about the situation.
"I think several past contestants coming forward and saying they didn't want him to be part of Paradise. I think Katie Thurston — her very last tweet before she went to film her season was that Chris needed to step away," Lindsay explained.
I stand with other alumni who have expressed that learning & growth require time. I hope that Chris Harrison continues to take more time to step away while sincerely educating himself & dedicating himself to the work. We can all grow and do better with time, and I hope he does.
She continued, "I think that, coupled with the interview that happened on this very stage, maybe led to him not coming back."
The interview that Lindsay was referring to occurred amid a racial controversy surrounding contestant Rachael Kirkconnell, whose past racist photos and social media posts had resurfaced at the time.
Chris seemingly stood up for Rachael Kirkconnell in the interview, urging Bachelor Nation to offer her "grace" and "understanding" as the photos in question were taken when she was a teenager.
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"These girls got dressed up and went to a party and had a great time, and they were 18-years-old. We all need to have a little grace, a little understanding, a little compassion because I've seen some stuff online — again, this 'judge, jury, executioner' thing — where people are just tearing this girl's life apart...It's unbelievably alarming to watch this...I just know that, I don't know, 50 million people did that in 2018...that was a type of party that a lot of people went to...I'm not defending it," Chris said in the interview.
Following backlash to his remarks, Chris apologized and made the decision to temporarily "step aside" from his role on the show.
While the response to his apology was mixed, Rachel Lindsay expressed that she forgave Chris for his comments and thought it was important to do so in order to move forward and become better.
