The Bachelorette is getting another shakeup. Former star JoJo Fletcher has been called in as a replacement host after Chris Harrison had to enter quarantine again. Harrison reportedly left the La Quinta Resort & Club in California, where the entire season is filmed, to take his son Joshua to college in Texas. Fletcher, who is engaged to her season’s winner, Jordan Rodgers, will replace Harrison for 14 days of filming.
After Harrison returned to California, producers told him he could not go in front of the cameras until he completed another 14-day quarantine, a source told Us Weekly. “The show’s contestants and crew all had to quarantine on the property for 14 days prior to the camera’s rolling,” the source said. “But it didn’t dawn on Chris he’d have to do it all over again if he simply left to take his kid to college.” The source said Harrison will be back “for the last few shows.”
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Back on Tuesday, Harrison confirmed he dropped off his son at Texas Christian University. “Just like that he’s gone. Thought dropping the big man off at college [TCU] today was going to crush me but all I could feel is pride and excitement,” Harrison wrote, alongside a picture with his son. “Especially now, so grateful that they have this opportunity. Now go take on the world and have the time of your life my boy.”
This is not the first major shakeup for The Bachelorette‘s new season. First off, the entire season has been set at the resort in La Quinta, California due to the coronavirus pandemic. It’s also been reported that star Clare Crawley decided she no longer wanted to continue on the show after falling in love with a contestant in the first two weeks of production. Tayshia Adams, who was a popular contestant during The Bachelor Season 23, was picked to fill in for Crawley. A source told Us Weekly that Crawley’s two weeks as The Bachelorette will still be included before Adams tries to find her own love among Crawley’s remaining contestants.
ABC still has not confirmed the shakeup, but the network appeared to reference it in cryptic messages on social media. “Get ready for one heel of a season,” the network posted on the show’s official Instagram page. On Tuesday, franchise creator Mike Fleiss simply tweeted, “strange times… #TheBachelorette.” Fans will get to see how this all went down this fall, when ABC airs the new season on Tuesday nights.
