Kelly Ripa's 'Bachelor' Comments Called 'Offensive' by Ashley Iaconetti

Kelly Ripa's latest comments on The Bachelor lit a fire in the Bachelor community and have clearly [...]

Kelly Ripa's latest comments on The Bachelor lit a fire in the Bachelor community and have clearly angered many stars of the franchise. That includes Ashley Iaconetti, a longtime veteran of the franchise.

"I personally find it kind of offensive," Iaconetti, 31, told Us Weekly Saturday at the iHeartRadio Wango Tango concert in Los Angeles.

Her soon-to-be husband, her Bachelor in Paradise co-star Jared Haibon, took a more diplomatic approach.

"Listen, first of all, she's very much entitled to her opinion, but she said that she didn't like The Bachelor because she hated the idea of 25 extraordinary woman going after one ordinary man. I wouldn't say that a lot of the bachelors are ordinary," Haibon told Us Weekly. "That's besides the point, my question would be, I want to know her views about The Bachelorette."

Iaconetti strongly disagreed: "I would say that while there are a lot of wonderful women on the show, there are also a lot of wonderful men on the show, my fiancé included, and a lot of my friends who have been leads in the past. Nick [Viall], Ben [Higgins], Colton [Underwood], you know, it's very wrong for her to [say that]."

In May, Ripa spent time on Live With Kelly and Ryan to rip into the franchise.

"You guys, you know how I feel about the show, it disgusts me," Ripa said. "I can't stand the idea of 25 exceptional women fighting over one ordinary fella, in my opinion. You know how I feel, ladies, we are too special to be arguing over a guy."

She also said she is no fan of The Bachelorette, calling it "just as creepy" as The Bachelor.

"Having said that... all of you women watch that gross, gross show," Ripa joked to her audience.

After the comments aired, The Bachelor host Chris Harrison jokingly tweeted, "Look out [Bachelor Nation] [Kelly Ripa] is coming after you and your 'disgusting' Monday night habit."

"Easy, [Kelly Ripa] ... [The Bachelor] franchise pays your salary!" show creator Mike Fleiss tweeted, referring to the fact that both Live With Kelly and Ryan and the Bachelor shows air on ABC.

When Brown did appear on Live, Ripa explained why she does not like The Bachelor, and Brown admitted she was not a big fan of the format before she joined the franchise.

"Like you, I didn't really follow the show. I wasn't a big fan," Brown explained. "Being a part of the show, it's not women fighting against each other. Really, some of my best friends came from the show and were really supportive."

She continued, "When you have a group of 30 people together, there's going to be people who don't like each other. That's just simple facts...It was one of the most empowering things that I ever did because I had to grow as an individual. That is why I decided that I wanted to be the Bachelorette. That's why I wanted that so bad."

The Bachelorette airs at 8 p.m. ET Mondays on ABC.

Photo credit: Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for iHeartMedia

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