The Bachelorette co-host Kaitlyn Bristowe has opened up about what it felt like to have ABC pass on her and choose Jesse Palmer to host The Bachelor's upcoming season instead.
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Kaitlyn co-hosted the last two seasons of The Bachelorette, Seasons 17 starring Katie Thurston and Season 18 starring Michelle Young, alongside fellow former The Bachelorette star Tayshia Adams.
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But ABC announced in September that Jesse, a 43-year-old former NFL player who starred on The Bachelor's fifth season in 2004, signed on to host Season 26 of The Bachelor, which will feature Clayton Echard looking for love and is set to premiere Monday, January 3 at 8PM ET/PT.
Kaitlyn apparently isn't surprised or offended the network decided to go with Jesse for The Bachelor hosting position.
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"We never really thought that would be our position," Kaitlyn told Us Weekly on Tayshia's behalf during a recent appearance of the "Here for the Right Reasons" podcast.
"I mean, we never really thought we'd still be here for a second season hosting [The Bachelorette]," she noted.
Bachelor in Paradise bartender Wells Adams also got a little taste of what hosting The Bachelor would be like when he served as the "master of ceremonies" for Bachelor in Paradise's seventh season, which was co-hosted by a lineup of celebrities this past summer.
Unlike Kaitlyn, Wells admitted earlier this month he felt a little disappointed and "bummed" not to be offered the new hosting position for The Bachelor.
But Kaitlyn reasoned, "I think it's cool to have a male that's been in that position help mentor the lead and say, 'I've been here, I've done this and I'm here to help you.'"
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The Season 11 The Bachelorette star and former Dancing with the Stars champion added, "So it made sense for me that they got a past Bachelor and also someone that, like, has been in a hosting role before. He's gonna do a really great job."
Kaitlyn, however, said she would "of course" be willing to do more hosting down the line, especially if ABC came knocking on her door again for a future season of the franchise.
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"I love hosting. I love being in a position to help the Bachelorette and be, like, somebody who can really empower them and give them confidence and validate their insecurities and just help them navigate through that journey," Kaitlyn shared.
"Because I would've loved to have somebody there like that for me," she added. "And I like being that person that can help."
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Jesse is replacing Chris Harrison following the longtime The Bachelor host's early 2021 racism scandal.
Wells previously told Us that Jesse will have some "tough shoes" to fill next year considering everyone had been "accustomed to Chris doing that job."
"Change is hard for the audience so... it's going to be a weird thing for people to see, I think. But I've met Jesse, I know him. He's a wonderful dude, so I'm happy," Wells said in early December.
Clayton's season of The Bachelor has wrapped filming.
Although he'll be the new The Bachelor host, Jesse will continue his role as a sports analyst on ESPN -- a position he began in 2007 -- for the 2021-2022 college football season.
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It remains unclear, however, whether Jesse's The Bachelor hosting role will end after Season 26 or continue on through subsequent seasons of the franchise.
According to insiders, producers are planning on having Jesse be the host of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette for future seasons but nothing is set in stone, Variety recently reported.
ABC and Chris publicly declared in June that Chris' voluntary leave of absence from The Bachelor franchise -- which began in February -- has become a permanent one and he will not return as host for any future seasons.
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Chris wrote in a June 8 statement on Instagram how he's "excited to start a new chapter" and "so grateful to Bachelor Nation for all of the memories."
But multiple sources told E! News at the time Chris was "saddened" and "frustrated" about his The Bachelor departure, adding that the show had been his "whole life" and he really wanted to come back.
Deadline reported in early June that Chris, who hosted The Bachelor franchise since its 2002 premiere, reached a mid-range eight-figure settlement with ABC to exit The Bachelor franchise for good.
But Variety subsequently reported Chris only received $9 million as his supposed big payout.
Chris announced in February he'd be "stepping aside" from his hosting duties with The Bachelor franchise "for a period of time" to educate himself on racism in society in a "profound" and "productive" manner after he made offensive remarks in an Extra interview with The Bachelorette's first Black leading lady, Rachel Lindsay.
In the early-February Extra interview, Chris had defended The Bachelor Season 25 contestant Rachael Kirkconnell's racially-ignorant and racially-insensitive actions in the last several years and adopted a dismissive attitude towards photos of Rachael that resurfaced from an antebellum-plantation themed "Old South" fraternity party at Georgia College & State University in 2018.
Chris had called for "grace" and "compassion" for Rachael and also criticized the "woke police" and the "unbelievably alarming" response of anger and frustration to the young woman's actions.
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Chris subsequently issued three apologies for his offense, two on Instagram and one verbal apology during a March appearance on Good Morning America.
On GMA at the time, Chris expressed his hope he'd be able to return to The Bachelor franchise, explaining, "This is a franchise that has been a part of my life for the better part of 20 years and I love it. I plan to be back and I want to be back."
But Katie Thurston refused to star on The Bachelorette's seventeenth season in March if Chris was going to participate, and several sources told E! News in April that "many" The Bachelor and The Bachelorette alums from seasons past were "apprehensive" about signing up for Bachelor in Paradise 7 or even declined their invitations in the wake of Chris' racism controversy.
One insider told the website at the time, "A lot of people are removing themselves from the franchise."
Paradise bachelor, Ivan Hall, for example, told E!'s Daily Pop in February, "If they have future shows and if they were to ask me to be on Bachelor in Paradise or something like that -- and I'm sure a lot of other contestants feel this way as well -- I wouldn't feel comfortable if Chris is there, to be quite frank."
Ivan added, "[I'm] not saying he can't make a recovery, can't learn from all of this, but, you know... it would just be too soon, really."
Chris' exit from the franchise appeared to split Bachelor Nation and fans everywhere down the middle.
While many people believed Chris leaving the show was the right thing to do, others -- including Sean Lowe and Michelle Money -- suggested cancel culture is not a good solution and they'd boycott the franchise if Chris is no longer a part of it.
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