The Bachelor host Chris Harrison has revealed a single conversation between Colton Underwood and one of his bachelorettes, Caelynn Miller-Keyes, will have a significant impact on Season 23.
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Harrison said Caelynn and The Bachelor star will have a very deep and emotional conversation that will have a tremendous impact on how the rest of his journey to find lasting love plays out.
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"[Caelynn] brings out a story, a personal story, that is one of the most emotional, revealing conversations we have ever had on the show. We were all very much taken aback," Harrison told Entertainment Tonight last month.
"So was Colton, and that kind of prompts things in Colton's life. And so it was... very different."
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Harrison, however, refused to joke about the topic of interest, declining an opportunity to call Caelynn's reveal "the most dramatic thing ever" or teasing to fans they've "never seen this before and it's unlike anything!"
"I often joke... and I don't want to do that, because it really does a disservice to what this conversation is about," Harrison admitted.
"Kudos to both of them -- for her speaking about it and Colton receiving it the right way and then having the conversation that he did. It was very memorable, and something that is going to change the course of the entire show."
Harrison added the conversation leads to another "reveal" from Colton, who disclosed on The Bachelorette's fourteenth season starring Becca Kufrin that he is a 26-year-old virgin.
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"I think just the conversation they had, on both of their parts, was unbelievably vulnerable, open and revealing. I think one kind of begets the other, for sure," the longtime The Bachelor host admitted.
"Caelynn kind of started it with something she let go, and I think Colton felt comfortable and I think he felt like he owed her certain things in that space because she had just revealed so much personally."
Harrison noted of the discussion, "It really is a depth and emotion that we have never really faced before" on The Bachelor franchise.
Caelynn is expected to share with Colton on The Bachelor how she had been a victim of sexual assault on her college campus at age 22, according to Reality Steve spoiler blogger Steve Carbone.
Helping and educating rape victims ended up being Caelynn's platform when she competed for Miss USA after winning the title of Miss North Carolina 2018, so she is comfortable with publicly discussing her traumatic past.
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"My whole world was flipped upside down," Caelynn shared at a press conference at the High Point Chamber of Commerce in April 2018, according to Life & Style.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' SPOILERS: COLTON'S PRIOR ALLEGED ENDING WAS WRONG, SEASON 23'S FINALE IS EVEN MORE SHOCKING!
"I didn't know what you should do when you report, I didn't know what my rights were, I didn't know what the process was."
Caelynn reportedly revealed the man responsible for molesting her was a member of a fraternity house, who just so happened to be one of her own friends.
"These are guys... that went to high schools around me, I knew these guys for years," Caelynn allegedly explained.
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It's unclear what big "reveal" Colton will share with Caelynn in return, but viewers can definitely anticipate the charity founder and former professional football player will explain why he has waited so long to have sex for the first time.
When Harrison found out Colton's reasoning during filming, the host told ET, "Everything just kind of fell into place, and it made a lot of sense to me... I wasn't surprised at all. I just had great admiration he was able to open up the way he did."
"For me as the host, producer, friend, psychologist that I am -- it allowed me in deeper and it allowed me to do my job better and be a better friend, be a better confidante," Harrison continued.
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"But it's his story to tell and his world to live in, and I wanted to help him. That's my job. And I felt like I couldn't fully help him until he would allow me in, and allow all of us in, and he did."
The Bachelor's 23rd season is set to premiere with a special three-hour event on Monday, January 7 at 8PM ET/PT on ABC.
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