Joy Behar and Meghan McCain are not shy when it comes to voicing their perspectives on The View and despite being on the same network as The Bachelor franchise, they held nothing back.
The forthright ladies, along with their fellow co-hosts, recently spoke out about Chris Harrison’s unexpected exit from The Bachelor franchise and weighed in on the plethora of issues they believe the series has.
Being that ABC is the parent network of both The View and The Bachelor, it was a bold move for Joy and Meghan to be so outspoken about the problems they have with the hit dating show. All the hosts appear eager to see the show be more progressive in this next chapter.
Meghan McCain calls out The Bachelor’s lack of diversity
Meghan began her statement by noting that an important aspect of Chris and Rachel’s now-viral Extra interview, is the fact that Chris was “incredibly dismissive” of Rachel and her experiences as a Black woman.
Meghan went on to admit, “I don’t love The Bachelor. I apologize to our parent company ABC. I mean no disrespect to the work that’s done on this network, but it’s an extremely problematic show.”
A common critique of The Bachelor is its major lack of diversity, with Rachel Lindsay being an advocate for the franchise finally selecting more open minded and inclusive individuals. Minority contestants are often overlooked, even on the seasons with the Black Bachelorettes/Bachelor, such as Matt James who is still dating controversial contestant, Rachael Kirkconnell.
Meghan agreed with this, stating, “I think the fact that there’s never any Asian people, there are never any Black people, there’s not a lot of Hispanic people. If you want to talk about body positivity, there’s very rarely – I think there was one contestant, one time, who was over a size zero.”
The dating world is far more diverse in real life and is more about experiencing different types of people, according to Meghan, and she expressed wanting the show to do better at reflecting real life.
On top of expressing her hope that Harrison will put in the work to grow in his thinking and eventually return to television, Meghan later noted, “I think the show’s got a lot of makeovers to do in a lot of different ways that go way beyond the host.”
Joy Behar questions the legitimacy of The Bachelor franchise
Joy Behar didn’t hesitate to call out both Chris Harrison and The Bachelor franchise, stating, “Let’s tell the truth about The Bachelor. It’s a show based on superficial relationships. Why would you ever expect that the host would be a deep thinker?”
The veteran host emphasized the importance of education and knowing one’s history. She suggested that people should more actively learn the history of slavery and plantations before spouting out ignorant comments.
Joy Behar also lamented that, “This is a show were they hook up before they know each other for two seconds. They’re supposedly gonna get married. I don’t think any of them ever get married.” Overall, Joy appears to feel the series could use a lot more depth.
Sunny Hostin and Sara Haines weigh in on Harrison’s shocking exit
The View’s Sara Haines agreed that The Bachelor’s “break up” with Chris was necessary and that Chris has some personal work to do, particularly after Harrison’s follow-up interview and apology, which Sara and many viewers found to be empty and inauthentic.
Sara also expressed that she feels it makes more sense for a woman to host a show centered around love and dating in 2021, as well as the fact that the show has a high percentage of women viewership.
Sunny Hostin added her thoughts, stating that she does not believe Chris Harrison, who received a massive payout, is a victim of cancel culture but rather consequence culture.
Sunny also recalled Chris Harrison’s pattern of problematic opinions, recalling the time that Chris Harrison called Rachel Lindsay “angry” for expressing herself.
The View hosts affirmed many viewers thoughts on The Bachelor’s urgent need for progress, especially with Sunny Hostin noting that Chris Harrison’s conduct shows there’s a lot of work to be done when it comes to “race relations and learning the true history of this country.”
The Bachelorette airs Mondays at 8/7c on ABC