Harrison, who has hosted all six seasons of BiP so far, will be replaced by celebrity guests who will rotate through hosting duties, several sources told Us Weekly. According to the sources, comedian and long-time Bachelor fan David Spade will host the show for two weeks. Spade indirectly confirmed the news—which was later confirmed by the official Bachelor in Paradise Instagram account—by reposting shout-outs from fans on his Instagram Stories. “OK @DavidSpade is hilarious and this is going to be epic,” one said. Other celebrity hosts include Lil Jon, Tituss Burgess, and Lance Bass, according to the Bachelor in Paradise Instagram account. Reactions to the news were mixed in the comments. “What in the WORLD????? None of this even makes sense ????,” one person wrote. “Honestly this sounds so absurd and confusing to have different hosts,” another said. But not everyone was critical. “This is amazing. ????????????,” a fan wrote. Bachelor couple Wells Adams and Modern Family star Sarah Hyland will also appear on the show, according to Variety, although their deals are not “closed” yet and their roles are “undisclosed.” Harrison hasn’t publicly commented on the news. On Tuesday, he announced on Instagram that he is leaving the Bachelor franchise. “I’ve had a truly incredible run as host of The Bachelor franchise and now I’m excited to start a new chapter,” he wrote, alongside a photo of himself at one of the show’s After the Final Rose episodes. “I’m so grateful to Bachelor Nation for all of the memories we’ve made together. While my two-decade journey is wrapping up, the friendships I’ve made will last a lifetime.” The longtime Bachelor host announced in February that he would be “stepping aside for a period of time” after defending past racist actions by Bachelor winner Rachael Kirkconnellduring an interview with former Bachelorette star Rachel Lindsay for Extra. Kirkconnell has since publicly apologized for attending an antebellum-themed party in 2018 and appropriating native cultures in a Halloween costume. In the Extra interview, Harrison said, “Would this girl, at, I don’t know how old she would have been back then, have thought, ‘You know, historically, this mansion stood for this. Guys it’s not really that woke that we’re here.’” He also suggested that the “woke police” are holding people to standards that are difficult for anyone to live up to. Harrison faced a lot of backlash after that interview, and publicly apologized on Instagram for his “ignorance” while announcing that he would not be hosting TheBachelor and its spin-offs “for a period of time.” “By excusing historical racism, I defended it,” he wrote. “I invoked the term ‘woke police,’ which is unacceptable. I am ashamed over how uninformed I was. I was so wrong.” Harrison said in a March interview with Good Morning America that he wants to be back to his hosting duties. “I am an imperfect man. I made a mistake and I own that,” he said. “I plan to be back and I want to be back. This interview is not the finish line. There is much more work to be done and I am excited to be part of that change.” Harrison also said that he’s “committed” to working with a race educator and scholars to try to expand his knowledge about racism and make progress for himself and the Bachelor franchise. “I am not a victim here,” he said. “I made a mistake and I own that.” Thurston’s season of The Bachelorette debuted on Monday and is co-hosted by former Bachelorette stars Kaitlyn Bristowe and Tayshia Adams. Next, meet Katie Thurston’s contestants on Bachelorette Season 17.
