Former 'Bachelor' star Kaitlyn Baristowe claims Chris Harrison 'ghosted' her over 'The Bachelorette' gig
Former reality star Kaitlyn Baristowe revealed that Chris Harrison “ghosted” her when news circulated that she and Tayshia Adams were going to co-host Season 17 of 'The Bachelorette' during Tuesday’s episode of 'Not Skinny But Not Fat' podcast. It seems their friendship is over. Baristowe went on to say that she had signed on under the impression she would act as a "mentor" for Katie Thurston.
Consequently, when “all these articles starting coming out saying 'Tayshia Adams and Kaitlyn Bristowe replacing Chris Harrison', the former 'Bachelor Nation' host allegedly stopped all communication with her. This spelled the downfall of the relationship between them. Baristowe claimed she tried to reach out to him and explain that she didn't know and wasn't trying to replace him and said, "I messaged him like 10 times." But her pleas were met with radio silence and all the news swirling around about her taking his place made her feel "icky"
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What happened at Well Adams and Sarah Hyland's wedding?
By this point, Baristowe had realized that things between her and Harrison would never be the same. Then by a twist of fate, she ran into Harrison at Adam Wells and Sarah Hyland’s nuptials in August 2022. By that time, Baristowe shared that she thought, "He hates me."
When she saw him at the wedding, she took her chance and went to talk to him. She said, "I walked him to him and I was like, ‘I miss you,’ and he was like, ‘Well I’ve always been here.’ So yeah, that was tough.”
While Bristowe revealed that she “balled” her “eyes out” after she lost her best friend and their bond “just felt like it went down the toilet,” she also claimed that she’s tried not to take this personally. “I don’t think it was actually about me if I can remove my ego. I think he was going through so much in his life. He lost 20 lbs, he was depressed,” she explained.
Why did Chris Harrison exit the 'Bachelor' franchise?
After nearly 20 years of hosting the popular show, Harrison permanently exited it in 2021. He stepped aside from the show when he came under fire for defending a former contestant Rachael Kirkconnell, who was shown in photos attending an antebellum plantation-themed fraternity formal in 2018.
In an extra interview with former Bachelorette Rachel Lindsey, Harrison made comments in defense of Kirkconnell. He implied that since the photos were from the past, the criticism was unfair. His departure came within a day of the premiere of 'The Bachelorette' Season 17.