The Bachelor season starring Ben Higgins is winding down, and the show's host Chris Harrison has a lot to say about it.

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With overnight Fantasy Suites dates coming up as well as The Women Tell All special and Season 20's much-anticipated finale, Chris offered up some exciting teasers while also reflecting back on Higgins' emotional journey as a whole.

Higgins still has Caila Quinn, Joelle "JoJo" Fletcher and Lauren Bushnell in the running for his heart.

During a Friday conference call with reporters, Chris talked about The Bachelor. Below is what he had to say. Check back with Reality TV World soon for more.

Ben tells two of the women he loves them. Did he discuss this at all beforehand with the producers on the day he planned to tell the bachelorettes or was it literally just a caught-on-camera type of moment? 

Chris Harrison: It was definitely caught on camera, you know, just impromptu feeling and emotion. I mean, honestly, if he comes to me and asks my opinion, I probably would say, "Don't do that because it's just going to create problems for yourself down the road."

But he just let himself go, he left himself just go in that moment which was a special, wonderful thing. And again, one of the things I love about the show is it does -- it just shows you those raw, real moments and that's what that was. So that's what you'll see on Monday night.

You know, he did such a good job.  I always go back to the Final 4 where, you know, he said goodbye to [Amanda Stanton]. But definitely this Final 3; He did a good job. He knows he's got it down to three phenomenal women that he cares for -- even the girl he sends home Monday night, he really cares for and really likes. 

But then he got down to that -- to the Final 2 that he truly loves and it was kind of a dilemma. And again, a good job on our part as producers and people that cast the show, but a great job on his part to let himself go and be in that moment. But no, it's a very raw, real moment and it's not something... you can script.

You know, you can't go into this and saying, "Hey, you should go in there and tell both girls you love them." It just doesn't work like that, and he's not that good of an actor. So, it really was just something that happened and it took us all a little by surprise.

Do you think the two women were surprised that he actually blurted "I love you" out? And does that make it more devastating for the girl whom he says goodbye to? I mean, do you think it was almost a little unfair that he can do that? 

Chris Harrison: Look, you know, I thought a lot about that. It's a very, very interesting question. My opinion -- and again, maybe I'm the wrong person to ask and we've got to go back and ask him or some of the guys or girls that were No. 2 -- but if you see how heartbroken they are, they know. They know they're in love.

And they have a really, really good idea -- maybe they haven't heard it per se -- but they've got a really good idea that the Bachelor or Bachelorette really cares about them and really loves them to a certain degree. 

So I don't know if saying it really makes it any more real or any more profound. I thought about that. First of all, if he does it, it was so sincere and so honest, because the easy way out would be to not do that. But I don't think it made it any worse. But I should say I thought a lot about that. 

I've been watching this season and I've noticed that this isn't like the others, that your role on The Bachelor has been noticeably smaller. I'm wondering what the reason was behind that. 

Chris Harrison: You know, that's a good Martin Hilton question. I call it the 'Martin edit.' We've had a ton of good stuff where Ben and I [talk], because actually, Ben and I get along very well. We're very good friends. We talk a lot. I talked to him this morning actually.

And we had some great moments and some great talk in the Bahamas. We had a very good moment in Indiana and, you know, for one reason or another that's where I kind of step away from the show and a guy named Martin Hilton, one of our executive producers, takes over. And if he decides to cut [the conversations] out of the show, then he cuts them out on the show.

And so this season for some -- I don't know. I haven't really thought about it. He has decided that the show was better without those -- without those moments. But they are there and, you know, when we're on the road, the costs have been a lot.  Some of it is on-camera, but some of it is off. But yes, I don't know. We'll get Martin on the line.

Could you elaborate on the aftermath of Ben's two love admissions? What kind of effect did it have on the girls for example?

Chris Harrison: Well, again, you know, when he told the second girl that he loves her, we, you know, kind of -- I pulled him on side and I said, "You told -- you know, do you realize you told two women that you loved them?"  He's like, "Yes, I kind of realized I did that."

You know, I don't think he -- it's not like he meant to do it and he's like he went into a -- I don't know if anybody does that on purpose. It's just he was in the moment. He really truly felt it and he just went with it. So you know, I said, "First of all, I'm proud of you. Go for it. You know, if that's how you felt at the moment and it's genuine then good on you."

But as producers, there really weren't huge ramifications for us. I think he just made us feel like we did our job and we facilitated these relationships and we allowed that to happen, and that's our goal.

Maybe we did it too well to allow, you know, for it to happen twice, but you know, the show really went on as normal. It really didn't change a lot. We, you know, got him to the point where he fell in love with two women. That was a good thing. 

When JoJo got a letter from her ex-boyfriend, how did that unfold? Did he reach out to you guys? What was the stuff we didn't see? 

Chris Harrison: Yes, he just -- I really don't know the specifics because I didn't ask. Well, to be honest, probably I should have. But I would guess that he probably reached out and found out somehow that we were coming to town, coming back to Dallas, when he left the note. 

But I also know that it's not usually not a big secret when we pull in to town. You know, we live a pretty big footprint, and so maybe he found out on his own, because it's not that hard to figure out through friends, family, because they knew that she was coming back. So I really don't know to be honest. 

And then, other than that, I mean, you saw exactly what happened. He left the flowers and left a note. And you know, obviously, it was up to her to decide. If she decided that he wasn't very sincere and she wasn't really happy then fine. Luckily, it didn't torpedo her chances entirely, because I think she really thought that was really going to ruin her chances with Ben.

I know you've met a ton of A-list celebrities. Who is the most surprising The Bachelor fan and how did you find out? 

Chris Harrison: I mean, I'll go with Tony Romo who's a friend, the quarterback of the Cowboys. I know he keeps up with the show -- he and his wife Candice, and I've gotten to be friends with him. And it's just funny when I don't know these athletes that I run across. I guess it's a surprise... some of those guys are such fans of the show.

You know, like PGA golfers, those guys started asking, "Hey, what's Ben like?" They ask about how I feel or the dates or whatever we do. I find it very interesting. And I'm like, "You watch the show?"

But probably overall, the biggest surprise would be Clint Eastwood. I don't know if he still watches, but the night I met Clint Eastwood, you know, he looked at me and said in his slow drawl, "I watch your show from time to time."

And I just thought, "Really, Clint Eastwood?" I don't know if that was depressing or exciting, but it's just -- I don't know if I want Clint Eastwood, the toughest guy, you know, in the world to be watching The Bachelor. 

Check back with Reality TV World soon for more from Chris Harrison's interview.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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