February 15, 2021 • bachelor insider
'Talking It Out': Mike Johnson Shares His Feelings on Chris Harrison's 'Extra' Interview with Rachel Lindsay
Mike Johnson and Bryan Abasolo convened for a special episode of “Talking It Out,” during which they discussed Chris Harrison’s recent “Extra” interview with Rachel Lindsay regarding current “Bachelor” contestant Rachael Kirkconnell and her past racist actions.
As a Black man within Bachelor Nation, Mike shared his feelings about Chris’ failure to condemn Rachael Kirkconnell’s behavior.
“I feel multiple different ways. Chris called me. He gave me an apology. We spoke for about 10 minutes or so and I said, ‘You need to speak publicly,’” Mike said of his recent conversation with the host and producer, who has since apologized for what he said in his interview with Rachel Lindsay.
Subsequently, Chris revealed this weekend that he is “stepping aside” from the show “for a period of time.”
“My roommate, Connor [Saeli], is the one who told me about the ‘Extra’ interview. And he told me, ‘You might wanna watch this. It’s kind of bad,’” Mike continued. “I think that the franchise has had beautiful opportunities and have swung and missed multiple times.”
The Air Force veteran — who was once considered to lead “The Bachelor” Season 24 before the role ultimately went to Peter Weber — added, “I think that Chris, being the figurehead, had an opportunity to unite people, to bring people together … to make people feel good within the show and he did an absolutely terrible job.”
In response to Chris’ interview, the cast of “The Bachelor” Season 25 banded together to release a statement denouncing “any defense of racism” and sharing their support for Rachel Lindsay, who made history as the franchise’s first Black lead on Season 13 of “The Bachelorette” in 2017. The men of “The Bachelorette” Season 16 released their own statement, standing in solidarity with the women of Season 25.
Chris apologized twice for what he said in his interview with Rachel Lindsay on Wednesday and again on Saturday, the latter of which included his announcement of a temporary hiatus. Meanwhile, Rachael Kirkconnell apologized for her racist actions on Thursday. Read their statements, each shared via Instagram, below:
Waiting for your permission to load the Instagram Media.
Waiting for your permission to load the Instagram Media.
Waiting for your permission to load the Instagram Media.
Listen to the latest episode of “Talking It Out with Mike & Bryan” below.
