The Bachelorette host Chris Harrison has opened up about Kaitlyn Bristowe's season as well as Bachelor in Paradise, which premieres August 2. 

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Kaitlyn was controversial yet arguably groundbreaking as the show's star. With Season 11 of The Bachelorette coming to a close, will Kaitlyn choose Nick Viall, Shawn Booth or walk away single? And what does Chris have to say about Bachelor in Paradise?

Below is a portion of Chris' recent interview with reporters. Check back with Reality TV World soon for more.

Reality shows edit things to get a point across or shape a story.  There's never 100% reality even in a documentary.  I'm sure you understand that.  So since they included the audio of Kaitlyn having sex with Nick and stuff, is that something that's happened in previous seasons but editors just chose not to show it, or, was this a first-time thing?

Chris Harrison: Well, you bring up a good point.  Our show is entertainment.  It's on a network.  It's not a documentary.  And as you said, even a documentary isn't showing you 100 percent of everything.  They're showing you an angle.  And so, we are definitely trying to show a certain side of a story. 

But, with that said, that particular incident created such a ripple effect through the rest of the season that, had we lifted that out, then it would have been really hard to explain and show the viewer why Shawn is so upset.  You know, when she had the conversation with [Ben Higgins], they're just -- the ripple effect really made a big impression on the entire season.  It just kind of set off an avalanche.

And so, if you lift that part out, there's no avalanche, and then, all you see is just the wreckage and you're like, "Wait, how did that happen?"  So, you know, I guess to your point, as producers, we kind of had to show the cause and effect of the entire thing and it all started with that one incident that we felt like we needed to show.

Is there any chance producers would ever do Bachelor in Paradise with an all-new cast of singles?

Chris Harrison: Well, the whole point of the show -- it all began with Bachelor Pad.  We wanted to do an all-star kind of hall of fame, you know, version of our show.  But you can't do The Bachelor or The Bachelorette that way because it just kind of lost, you know, the validation of what the show is all about.

And so, we came up with Bachelor Pad to do an all-star edition of our show.  Then, we didn't like the game version of it, so we lifted that out and we came up with Bachelor in Paradise.  And again, the reason we do it is because we do want these characters back.

You know, Bachelor Nation, the people that watch this show religiously are really bound to these people and they love them.  And they want to know more about [Ashley Iaconetti] and they want to see [Ashley Salter] doing more or [Clare Crawley] talking to raccoons.  And again, if you just do an all-new cast of 13-15 people, it's just like The Bachelor.

Why do I care?  You know, why am I vested in this?  And the great thing about Bachelor in Paradise is you're already invested.  You have characters you know and love already.  But, yes, the whole point of behind the show is because it's an all-star cast.

Bachelor in Paradise's first and only season thus far resulted in Lacy Faddoul and Marcus Grodd getting married.  Do you think this formula is more effective to build a successful relationship?

Chris Harrison: I was pretty confident with the first one.  Overall, I'm very confident that the concept works.  You know, and really it works -- it's bound to work more than The Bachelor and The Bachelorette just because you have, percentage-wise, a better opportunity.

Instead of one, you know, Bachelorette -- like Kaitlyn trying to find love -- you have six or seven Kaitlyns trying to find love, so you have just many more opportunities.  And, within that, you have people arriving, people leaving.  So again, it's just a better chance and a better opportunity.

And so, yes, we found it with Marcus and Lacy, and I guess, I think maybe Michelle Money and Cody Sattler are back together.  I don't know day to day.  You guys probably know better than I do if they're together.  But I think it's going to happen again.  I really think that we will leave Paradise with another couple that's in love.

I want to ask about your decision to read a few hateful tweets aloud to Kaitlyn on The Men Tell All.  That must have been really difficult and I want to hear your take on it. What was that like for you and what was the rationale behind that?

Chris Harrison: Yes.  You know, it was a really difficult decision.  We all talked about it a lot, producers and Mike Fleiss, the creator of the show.  He and I had a long discussion about it.  You know, I don't know if it's maybe because I'm a dad and I have two kids and one of them is a teenage boy and one of them is about to be a teenage girl, so maybe I'm a little bit more passionate about this than everybody else.

But I was 100% behind it and wanted to do it.  I thought it was important.  I thought it was good.  I've talked to Kaitlyn a lot.  She's a friend of mine.  I love Kaitlyn to death.  Does she make mistakes?  Of course, she does.  But do we all make mistakes?  You're damn right we do. 

And I just felt what's happened to her and what she's gone through and she's -- you know, she's not the first to get bad tweets or hate mail, but she's definitely the first to get it at this level of anger and hate and even death threats.  And so, having to deal with her and talk to her every week about it I just said, "Enough is enough."

And, you know, we talked to her and made sure that she would be okay with it.  But I thought it was important to go out and tape a segment and be serious and just try to, I don't know, maybe make a difference.  And look, is everything going to change today?  No. 

But I know the level of debate has changed because Good Morning America talked about it for several minutes and The View talked about it and we're talking about it.  So if nothing else comes from this show, at least we started a discussion about something that is, you know, important to me, especially with two kids.

And I thought it was important to not just say Kaitlyn's getting some mean tweets or mean e-mails.  I felt, like, if we're going to do this, we need to read the words of just how hateful they are, how horrible these people can be and how much hate there is -- and maybe it'll make a little difference.  And look, it's one of those things if one person is affected, then, I think it was worth it.

Click here to read a portion of Chris' The Bachelorette interview with reporters. Check back with Reality TV World soon for more.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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