Tayshia Adams Teases a Different ‘The Bachelorette’ Without Chris Harrison

The next season of The Bachelorette will be very different, as it will be the first without host Chris Harrison. Instead, former Bachelorette stars Tayshia Adams and Kaitlyn Bristowe will co-host as Katie Thurston searches for love this summer. Adams, who got engaged to Zac Clark at the end of The Bachelorette Season 16 last year, said Thurston’s season will feature more than just a change in hosts.

Although The Bachelor franchise “is pretty traditional in the sense of they have their rhyme or reason,” Adams told Going to Bed podcast host Garcelle Beauvais, the hosting gig comes after everything fell “into place… where the world needs something fresh and new.” The reality TV star said she hopes she and Bristowe will “provide that this season,” reports Entertainment Tonight. “I think that people are looking for change in the franchise. I really think that this is something that they’re going to be really excited about,” Adams said.

Beauvais also asked Adams about Colton Underwood, the star of her The Bachelor season, coming out as gay. Adams said she “didn’t suspect it at all.” Her representative also told Page Six that Adams is “very happy that Colton is able to now live his life openly and without fear of sharing who he is.” Underwood, a former NFL player, told Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts earlier this month he is gay.

The next season of The Bachelorette debuts on June 7 on ABC. It is the first since a racism scandal overshadowed the most reason season of The Bachelor, which featured Matt James, the first Black star of the show. While the show aired, fans discovered that contestant Rachel Kirckconnell went to an antebellum-themed formal in 2018 and allegedly liked social media posts with the Confederate flag. Kirkconnell apologized for her behavior, but Harrison defended her in an Extra interview with former Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay. Harrison then apologized as well, and ABC removed him from the “After the Final Rose” special. Kirkconnell still received James’ final rose, but they broke up because of the racism scandal.

In March, ABC named Bristowe, who was The Bachelorette in 2015 and won Dancing With the Stars Season 29, and Adams as Harrison’s replacements for The Bachelorette Season 17. After the network shared the news, Adams said she was “honored” to co-host the show and happy to see so many fans support her. ” I’ve been getting so many phenomenal messages and words of encouragement; it means so much,” she wrote on Instagram. “And the fact that I talked to Chris the other day and he was so kind and congratulated me for being part of the next season meant the absolute world.”