Emmanuel Acho has been chosen to replace Chris Harrison as host for the “After The Final Rose” special after this season of “The Bachelor,” and the hosts of “The Real” are all for it.
During Tuesday’s episode, host Loni Love praised ABC’s decision, saying “I don’t think this was performative.”
And Garcelle Beauvais readily agreed, praising Acho’s professional skills.
“I do love the fact that they brought in Emmanuel so, like you said Loni, he can have a real conversation with Matt James.” Beauvais said. “And Emmanuel is really great at what he does, so I think that’s a good choice.”
The decision to replace Harrison became necessary, after Harrison stepped back while facing backlash for comments he made defending the actions of Rachael Kirkconnell, a finalist on the current season of “The Bachelor,” who recently came under fire for past racist actions, including “liking” photos with Confederate flags and attending a plantation-themed sorority party.
On Saturday, ABC announced Acho would be replacing Harrison in conversation with Bachelor Matt James for the March 15 special. The hosts of “The Real” are hopeful that Acho won’t shy away from discussing the racial conflict at hand.
“There needs to be a discussion” Love said. “They needed a person of color for [Matt James] to talk to about the whole situation, and I think it could be a great learning moment.”
The hosts went on to stress that they believe ABC made the move in a genuine effort to listen and move toward correcting their shortcomings, particularly in the “Bachelor” franchise, which has only had two Black leads over the course of 25 seasons.
“We’re all learning. We’re all evolving when it comes to trying to make race relations better.” Love said. “I think people are trying to do the best that they can, I think networks are trying to do the best that they can.”
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