Chris Harrison's role as The Bachelor host is useless, but his presence seems to confirm that the show's race blindspots weren't mistakes at all

The Ringer

"When the face of the franchise rushes to defend racist actions, it makes it seem like the show’s past missteps weren’t accidents," says Rodger Sherman. "It makes it seem like the show spent two decades exclusively casting white people because its all-white leadership didn’t really see a problem with ignoring everybody who didn’t look like them. It makes it seem like the show’s repeated inability to filter out contestants with racist pasts is the result of a brain trust who never thought it necessary to ensure that the show’s few Black contestants are surrounded by people who respect their humanity. Harrison’s defense seemed to confirm that The Bachelor’s mistakes weren’t mistakes at all, instead a reinforcement of the way things are supposed to be." Sherman adds that The Bachelor franchise wouldn't be affected by dumping Harrison. "Can the show go on without Chris? Honestly? Yes, and easily," says Sherman. "While he may be the face of the franchise, Chris Harrison doesn’t really do much of anything on the show, something we’ve been pointing out for years. It’s not that he’s bad at his job—the same faux-sincerity that made his interview with Strahan so strained is perfect for a show built on faux-sincerity. It’s just that the role of Bachelor host is limited. So limited, in fact, that it could be eliminated entirely. On many competition shows, the job of the host is obvious. On Jeopardy!, the late, great Alex Trebek read the clues and told contestants whether they were right or wrong. On Survivor, Jeff Probst explains the rules of challenges, does play-by-play for physical competitions—he’s honestly better at this than most sports announcers—and talks contestants through who they’re voting off the show. On American Idol, Ryan Seacrest introduces performers and tells viewers how to vote on the show’s winner. On Chopped, Ted Allen reveals which items cooks must use, comments on their cooking processes, and then prompts the judges to explain their thought process. On The Bachelor … I’ve never been able to put my finger on what Chris Harrison is there for. In our 2017 calculation, we found that Harrison is on screen for roughly 5 percent of a season of The Bachelor."

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• Chris Harrison is reportedly not quarantining with The Bachelorette cast and crew: TMZ reports that Harrison isn't part of the quarantine bubble for next season of The Bachelorette that is filming at a resort outside Albuquerque, New Mexico -- But that doesn't mean Harrison has lost his job. "Our sources say the internal speculation is Bachelor honchos want to wait and see how the After the Final Rose show plays out with the fill-in host, Emmanuel Acho, before any decisions are made," TMZ reports.