Chris Harrison plans to return to The Bachelor -- Michael Strahan calls apology a "surface response"

Variety

The embattled Bachelor franchise host appeared on Good Morning America -- another major ABC property -- this morning for a pre-taped interview about his racial controversy, telling Strahan: "I plan to be back and I want to be back. This interview is not the finish line, there is much more work to be done and I am excited to be a part of that change." After the taped interview ended, Strahan commented on the segment, saying: “His apology is his apology, but it felt like I got nothing more than a surface response on any of this, and obviously he’s a man who wants to clearly stay on the show, but only time will tell if there’s any meaning behind his words.” In the interview, Harrison repeatedly used the word "mistake" to describe his defense of Bachelor contestant Rachael Kirkconnell, who was called out for attending an Antebellum party. “I believe that mistake doesn’t reflect who I am or what I stand for,” Harrison said in the interview taped Wednesday. “I am committed to the progress not just for myself but also for the franchise.” Harrison also apologized to former Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay not only for the comments he made during their Extra interview, but for the online bullying she's received as a result. “I am saddened and shocked at how insensitive I was in that interview with Rachel Lindsay,” he said. “I didn’t speak from my heart, and that is to say I stand against all forms of racism and I am deeply sorry. I talked to Rachel, not since she deactivated her Instagram account, but I talked Rachel initially, and I apologized and I want to do so again: I am incredibly sorry. To anyone who is throwing hate towards Rachel Lindsay, please stop. It is unacceptable." Harrison said he’s been working with a “race educator and strategist,” as well as faith leaders and scholars like Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, who has taught him the idea of “counsel, not cancel.”