Chris Harrison's Response To Arie Filming His Breakup With Becca Questions The Bachelor's Odd Excuse

As Bachelor Nation knows, the season finale of The Bachelor ended in an extremely upsetting fashion when Arie broke off his engagement with Becca in order to get back together with his runner-up, Lauren B. In an extremely questionable defense, the suitor said that he broke up with her in front of the cameras in order to help make Becca the Bachelorette. And now, the Bachelor Nation godfather himself, Chris Harrison, has questioned Arie’s Bachelorette statements in an interview with E! News.

In response to Arie’s recent comments, which he gave in an interview with Good Morning America, Harrison stated that there was really no way for theBachelor to be sure that Becca would receive the Bachelorette spot while filming the breakup. In other words, Arie’s excuse doesn’t totally add up (as Bachelor Nation could have already guessed). The host told E! News what he thought of the Bachelor’s defense and said,

“Well, then he was thinking far ahead of the game. That’s a decision that the Bachelors are never involved in, so unless he was just being incredibly creative and thinking as a producer and trying to produce the show as well as break up with a girl and make the switch, which, if he did, I am incredibly impressed.”

So, Harrison also finds Arie’s comments (and actions) kind of questionable. Like the host said, it would certainly be… interesting, to say the least, if this is what Arie had in mind in terms of the public breakup. Many already took note of the Bachelor’s defense and deemed it an weird way to spin what actually took place (you know, breaking someone’s heart on national TV).

While Arie might have thought he was helping (as if the producers would need any help recognizing that they had a great lead option in Becca), it’s possible that he’s really trying to, in some way, defend how he handled the situation. By reframing the narrative like this, it makes it seem like he did Becca a favor by breaking up with her on-camera, which… try again.

ABC

Arie spoke about The Bachelorette being part of his reason for the breakup being on camera on Good Morning America following the After the Final Rose fallout. On the morning show, he told host Michael Strahan that he wanted the breakup to be filmed partly because he wanted to give his final rose winner the chance to be the next titular suitor. He said, “Honestly, I wanted her the opportunity to be the potential Bachelorette.” He also said that he wanted the breakup to be shown because he wanted all of the fault to lay on him. Arie said, “I really wanted everyone to know that this was on me.”

He continued, “This was my fault, and I felt like filming that would let people know that, that if there were any questions on the breakup, that those would be squashed if they saw the breakup.” How noble of him! Viewers would have guessed that you were at fault, dude.

Also, Becca’s such an all-around awesome person that she definitely didn’t need any of Arie’s help to become the next suitor.

By the way, Becca’s Bachelorette journey already got off to a great start. Harrison surprised her by letting her know that things would kick-off right then and there during the After the Final Rose special. Becca then met five of men who will compete for her heart on the upcoming season, which is set to premiere on May 28. It’s safe to say that fans are already really into a couple of the contestants.