Chris Harrison believes that regardless of whether bachelorette Casey Shteamer was still in love with her ex-boyfriend while appearing on The Bachelor, her departure was justified.
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"In the end it was right for Casey to leave the show. Whether she's in love with her old boyfriend or not is and was irrelevant. It's very clear she isn't in the right state of mind to find love with Ben right now. I'm glad I stepped in and talked to her, and overall I'm happy with how we handled the situation," the host wrote on his Entertainment Weekly blog.
Although Shteamer's ex-boyfriend Michael Patak told Harrison he was still dating the bachelorette while she was on the show, Shteamer insisted during Monday night's episode that she went on The Bachelor single and looking for love with the hopes of moving on from her old flame because he had refused to marry her.
"Now, I want to make it clear that in my opinion Casey didn't come on the show with bad intentions; she didn't come on the show to deceive Ben. Like many people that have come on this show in the past, Casey learned a lot about herself and changed during her time here. My talk with her was in no way confrontational, but I did want to make things very clear, to her and everybody watching," Harrison explained.
While an emotional Shteamer suggested she had no desire to rekindle her romance with her ex-boyfriend upon her return home and wished she could get over him, Flajnik couldn't look past the fact she had unresolved feelings for someone else and immediately eliminated her as a result without "sugarcoating" his reasoning.
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The way Flajnik chose to send Shteamer home has been deemed hasty or inconsiderate in the eyes of some viewers, and Harrison said The Bachelor star probably now regrets how he treated Shteamer.
"Casey is a very sweet woman who found herself in a difficult position. Her talk with Ben was amicable. Looking back, I think Ben -- who was caught completely off guard -- wishes he had reacted a little differently in the moment. Casey was emotional and Ben didn't exactly react as he normally would in this kind of situation," the host explained.
Also in his blog, Harrison pointed out that bachelorette Courtney Robertson, although her seductive, aggressive and racy behavior has been controversial, was solely focused on Flajnik -- and rightly so -- unlike most of her competition.
"I know Courtney will be judged by her behavior on this date, but I have to say she brings up a very valid point. She's making moves on Ben and the other girls aren't. The other women are so worried about the unwritten code of conduct and so worried about Courtney they aren't worried about the most important person -- Ben! As Courtney said, they are making it very easy for her," Harrison said.
However, The Bachelor host admitted he was disappointed how -- as viewers saw during last night's broadcast -- Robertson declined to accept an apology from fellow bachelorette Emily O'Brien, who told Robertson she had misjudged her from the beginning and was very wrong in doing so.
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"[Emily] took the high road and apologized to Courtney. Courtney decided to take the other road. In all seriousness, her response to Emily's apology was pretty amazing, and not in a good way," he said.
In addition, Harrison commented on how bachelorette Jamie Otis had attempted to show Flajnik a new sexy side of her which may have been a little contradictory to her actual character and personality.
"The other most talked about moment from this week's show will easily be Jamie and her aggressive performance at the cocktail party. Jamie is a self-described shy, prude girl, and all I can say about what went down at the cocktail party is 'bless her heart.' I'm sure she's just as horrified watching herself as you were. Again, 'bless her heart,'" Harrison added.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski