Kaitlyn Bristowe
Kaitlyn Bristowe’s friendship with Chris Harrison “fell down the toilet” after she was hired to host ‘The Bachelorette.’
During Tuesday’s episode of the ‘Not Skinny But Not Fat’ podcast, the former reality star claimed Harrison “ghosted” her after it was announced that she and Tayshia Adams would be co-hosting the season 17 of the hit ABC series.
She explained that at first she joined under the impression that she was there to “mentor” Katie Thurston, not to replace Harrison.
However, when “all these articles started coming out saying ‘Tayshia Adams and Kaitlyn Bristowe replacing Chris Harrison,’ that’s when the former ‘Bachelor’ Nation host reportedly turned his back on her.
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Bristowe claimed she messaged Harrison ‘like 10 times’ to explain that she ‘didn’t know what [her] role was” and did not want to replace him.
However, her pleas were met with silence, which made the former “Bachelorette” “feel bad.”
“And it’s so not like him to me. And I know it’s not about me. I just wanted him to know that I thought he was irreplaceable and didn’t want to step on his toes,” she said.
Despite his odd behavior, Bristowe continued to reach out to Harrison but “he didn’t respond.”
“I was like, ‘OK, well now I’m freaking out. Why didn’t you answer me?'” she recalled, wondering if he ‘hated’ her or if she ‘was [too] emotional.”
“We were best friends and now he hates me,” she said.
It wasn’t until Bristowe, 37, saw Harrison, 51, at Wells Adams and Sarah Hyland’s wedding last year that the couple finally got to chat.
“I walked up to him and said, ‘I miss you,'” she recalled, to which Harrison shockingly replied, “Well, I’ve always been here.
The comment took Bristowe by surprise as she reportedly jokingly replied, “No you didn’t! You haven’t answered me in forever!
Although she admitted she had “bawled her eyes out” about the situation, Bristowe noted that Harrison was “going through so much in her life” at the time.
Harrison was forced to say goodbye to Bachelor Nation in 2021 after 19 years as host when he defended “racist” photos of contestant Rachael Kirkconnell at a plantation-themed party.
After he left, Bristowe and Taysha stepped in to mentor Thurston and later Michelle Young on their trips to the altar. However, Jesse Palmer was eventually named Harrison’s permanent replacement as host of “The Bachelor.”
