The Bachelor host Chris Harrison has insisted the decision not to air Desiree Hartsock and new husband Chris Siegfried's wedding on TV was not a personal one.
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Hartsock and Siegfried, The Bachelorette's ninth-season couple, wed on January 19 in southern California. It was an intimate ceremony that, according to multiple reports, was originally supposed to air on ABC similar to prior The Bachelor and The Bachelorette weddings. However, sources claimed in November 2014 the network had found Hartsock too "boring" to bring in good ratings.
So how does Harrison respond to such rumors?
"Congratulations to Desiree and Chris... For those of you who wanted this wedding to be televised, so did I. Unfortunately, it's not as easy as that. You don't get to just make a television show out of whatever you want, whenever you want. There is a lot that goes into doing any network show," Harrison wrote in his Yahoo blog.
"We came very close to working out a deal for a special that would've included Chris and Des' wedding, but things just didn't work out in the end. I'm very sorry for that because as fans of the show, I understand that you want to see this journey come full circle."
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Harrison then pointed out what he feels is "most important" to note.
"Please know that this was not a sign of disrespect for Des and Chris at all by The Bachelor family. They are very much beloved by all of us and we are so thrilled they tied the knot this weekend. So to Des and Chris I say, 'We love you, and congratulations on a beautiful life together,'" he explained.
ABC allegedly allowed Hartsock and Siegfried to think they were going to get married on television for over a year, causing the former Bachelorette to compromise her dream Summer 2014 wedding for the sake of ratings. Hartsock was likely willing to push back her ceremony since The Bachelor couple Sean Lowe and Catherine Giudici's wedding was completely paid for and very elegant.
Siegfried proposed to Hartsock during The Bachelorette's ninth-season finale, which was filmed in May 2013 and aired three months later. She selected the former professional baseball player over runner-up Drew Kenney after getting over the heartbreak of Brooks Forester unexpectedly dumping her.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski