Chris Harrison Confirms Major ‘Bachelorette’ Shake-Up: ‘We’re Done Ignoring This’

Rumors have been circulating this season of The Bachelorette, and it looks like fans were correct about a major twist: that star Clare Crawley would find love early and be replaced by former contestant Tayshia Adams.

Now host Chris Harrison, speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, has promised that next week, viewers will get the answers to their questions.

“And, one way or another, we are moving on,” Harrison said.

In the final moments of Tuesday night’s episode, the promo for next Thursday revealed Adams in a bikini and walking out of a pool and smiling at the camera, as The Inquisitr recorded.

Harrison admitted that the tease was more than just a wink to the show’s fan base, collectively known as Bachelor Nation. He stated that it was time to address the “elephant in the room,” otherwise known as the much-anticipated debut of Bachelor in Paradise star Adams.

“We debated, how do we promote it?” Harrison asked, revealing that producers wanted to tell fans they were “done ignoring this,” and that everything would be “coming to a head.”

ABC’s press release on Wednesday confirmed that since Crawley has fallen hard for frontrunner Dale Moss, the other contestants will get a “second chance at love” and, if they go for it, a surprise will be waiting for them.

The replacement would make Adams the second-ever Black woman to be the Bachelorette, after Rachel Lindsay in Season 13.

“The big reveal of Tayshia at the end of the episode was to allow everybody to realize that next week, you’re going to get all the answers,” Harrison confirmed, adding that the show is at “a breaking point.”

The back-up plan was difficult to pull off, given that — due to COVID-19 — the show was being filmed in a bubble at a resort in Palm Springs.

Harrison also stood by Crawley’s performance as the Bachelorette, which has been criticized.

“If the goal is to fall in love, then you definitely can’t say she did a bad job,” he argued.

Despite the negative feedback, the host maintained that Clare quickly developing feelings for one of the contestants was “the whole purpose of the show.”

All will be revealed when The Bachelorette returns for a special Thursday night airing next week, moved from Tuesday due to election night.

“What you’re about to see is the culmination of everything that has led up until this moment,” Harrison promised.