Former “Bachelor” host Chris Harrison is not holding back regarding his feelings towards creator and former executive producer, Mike Fleiss, who just recently stepped down.
Harrison, who hosted the reality television show for 19 years, spoke out on his newly launched podcast, “The Most Dramatic Podcast Ever”, calling Fleiss a “narcissist”.
Chris Harrison Speaks Out About Mike Fleiss
On the April 9 episode of “The Most Dramatic Podcast Ever”, former “The Real Housewives of Orange County” star Meghan King joined the former “Bachelor” host. As the episode began to wind down, King asked Harrison a question — if he thought there to were any narcissists associated with the “Bachelor” franchise, to which Harrison named the creator and former executive producer.
“The creator of the show was — severely,” he said in response to King’s question. “One of the toughest things about narcissism is you will never, I don’t want to say never, but very rarely, will that person ever recognize that about themselves.”
He continued to say, “I was talking to one therapist about narcissism and she said, ‘I’m just warning you that next to a homicidal maniac, narcissism is the toughest thing to treat.’ That to have someone self-realize and actually fix that is next to impossible. It just rarely happens.”
Mike Fleiss Exits ‘The Bachelor’
Shortly after the latest season of “The Bachelor” concluded, creator Mike Fleiss announced he would be exiting the reality television franchise after more than two decades.
“I wish [Kaity Biggar and Zach Shallcross] a long and happy life together,” Fleiss said in his statement. “I want to thank WBTV and ABC for 21 extraordinary years. They’ve found the perfect creative team for me to entrust The Bachelor franchise and keep this lightning in a bottle bold and moving forward. Let the journey continue.”
The news comes after an investigation was launched into workplace misconduct allegations.
This is the second time Warner Bros. had investigated Fleiss’ behavior as in 2019, news broke that the studio was “looking into” the “serious allegations” brought to their attention by his then-pregnant wife, Laura Kaeppeler, who accused him of attacking her at the time, and claims he demanded that she get an abortion. The two separated for a few months, but reconciled in November of the same year.
Kaeppeler released a statement in regard to the incident, explaining, “Over the summer, my husband and I went through a challenging time, as all marriages do. There was an emotionally charged incident in which we fought over a phone and both exhibited immature and irresponsible behavior. This situation led to making rash decisions we both regret.”
She added, “[We] are working together with the help of a marriage counselor to rebuild what we lost. I love @fleissmeister and our kids very much. We appreciate your support at this time.”
Claire Freeland, Jason Ehrlich and Bennett Graebner have been named the new executive producers and showrunners for the franchise. They have already begun working in their new roles for the upcoming 20th season of “The Bachelorette”, which will have Charity Lawson as its lead.
Charity Lawson’s season of “The Bachelorette” will air in June on ABC.
