‘The Bachelor’: Rachel Lindsay Addresses Whether She’d Host Following Chris Harrison’s Temporary Exit

Over the past couple of weeks, Bachelor Nation has been marred by controversy stemming from host Chris Harrison‘s Extra interview with Rachel Lindsay, during which he defended contestant Rachael Kirkconnell against racism allegations. In light of that controversy, Harrison announced that he would be temporarily stepping down as the host of the current season of The Bachelor. That news prompted many fans to speculate who would be taking over Harrison’s role for the time being. According to PEOPLE, Lindsay was asked about whether she would consider becoming the host of the franchise, and she had plenty to say about the topic.

PEOPLE obtained a sneak peek of Wednesday’s episode of the Black Girls Texting podcast, during which Lindsay joined to discuss the recent developments within Bachelor Nation. She was reportedly asked about whether she’d consider taking over hosting duties from Harrison. But, according to the former Bachelorette, the opportunity would give her pause. She said, “Honestly, I can’t even go there. Because one, Chris has only said that he’s stepping aside, and that’s all that I know, that he’s not doing the finale.” Lindsay went on to express why she would have mixed feelings about taking on the host role, as she added, “It’s hard for me to even think about being the host, because in a lot of ways, Bachelor Nation has changed my life in the best way possible. But at the same time, it’s really toxic. … And I don’t know if I want to subject myself to that.” The former contestant continued to explain that she would also be hesitant to become the host as she wouldn’t want to feed into the “wild” notion that she wanted to get Harrison’s job this whole time.

“I don’t know if I want to play into the whole line of thinking that people think I did this to get Chris Harrison’s job. It’s so wild,” she said. “Yeah, I went to go have an interview with a person to recap last night’s episode and I thought, ‘You know what? Today’s the day I’m going to try to take your job.’ How would I even think like that? But that’s the kind of stuff that people say about me. So for me, I really don’t know — I don’t know if that’s something that’s for me.”

This whole matter was prompted after Harrison took part in an Extra interview in early February, which was conducted by Lindsay. During the interview, Harrison defended Kirkconnell, who is currently competing on Matt James‘ season of The Bachelor, over her alleged pre-show racist actions. He later apologized for “excusing historical racism” and announced that he would be taking a step back from the show by not hosting the After the Final Rose special at the end of the current Bachelor season. His statement read, in part, “The historic season of The Bachelor should not be marred or overshadowed by my mistakes or diminished by my actions. To that end, I have consulted with Warner Bros. and ABC and will be stepping aside for a period of time and will not join for the After the Final Rose special. I am dedicated to getting educated on a more profound and productive level than ever before.”