Tanner Tolbert Rips ‘Bachelor’ Franchise After Chris Harrison’s Exit

Getty Tanner Tolbert and Chris Harrison.

“Bachelor in Paradise” star Tanner Tolbert expressed his opinion on the “Bachelor” franchise and the hoopla surrounding the new hosts just one day after Deadline reported that Chris Harrison would not be returning.

Following the franchise’s June 9, 2021, announcement that the rotating hosts for the new season of “Bachelor in Paradise” would be David Spade, Tituss Burgess, Lance Bass and Lil Jon, Tolbert spoke out on social media.

“Don’t get me wrong… I loved David Spade in Tommy Boy… but I could care less about him handing out date cards or giving commentary. We watch the show to see the relationships and drama… Not to see this ‘host’ circus. It takes away from the purpose of the show in my opinion,” Tolbert tweeted.

However, Tolbert didn’t end things there. He moved over to Instagram, where he posted a few videos on his Stories expressing his disapproval for how things are going in “Bachelor” world — a world where he himself was able to find love.

Here’s what you need to know:

Tolbert Posted a Rant on His Instagram Story & Said the ‘Host Drama’ Is Getting ‘Ridiculous’

Tolbert, who met his now-wife Jade Roper on “Bachelor in Paradise,” had a lot to say about the “Bachelor” franchise host shake-up. He took to his Instagram Stories to express his frustrations with the producers and how things are going.

“I think the Bachelor franchise needs to figure their s*** out, and figure it out quick because I think the show is on a slippery slope right now, and I, as a fan of the show, first and foremost, I want to see it keep going. But I think all this host drama is just starting to get ridiculous,” he said, according to People magazine.

Tolbert went on to talk about Kaitlyn Bristowe and Tayshia Adams’ roles as co-hosts on the current season of “The Bachelorette.” He seems to think that the franchise is doing too much by having hosts that have such big personalities.

“The host doesn’t need to be the star of the show. It’s as simple as that. The host is the host. The host needs to be the backbone of the show and fill a role. I don’t need to see commentary on every little thing and have everything be a joke,” he said, according to People. “… I want to watch ‘The Bachelor’ and ‘The Bachelorette’ and ‘Bachelor in Paradise’ for the drama and for the relationships and see that unfold on the screen. I don’t care about this pre-planned, contrived BS.”

“I don’t tune in to watch the sideshow circus. I just want to watch real people meet on screen for the first time, date and then let the show take the twist and turns that unfold from there. The show used to do a good job of letting the drama unfold in real-time, and then making storylines out of that. Now I feel like they’re trying to force the show down a set of tracks of what they think is good tv, and it’s coming off wrong,” he concluded.

After he finished saying his piece, Tolbert then put up a poll to ask his followers if they agree with him or if they like the change. At the time of this writing, 89% of people voted that they agree with Tolbert.

This Isn’t the First Time That Tolbert Has Spoken out

Tolbert is generally a quiet guy, but he’s had a lot to say about the “Bachelor” franchise lately. During an interview with Us Weekly that ran in mid-May, Tolbert made a bold prediction about what would happen to the franchise if ABC were to lose Harrison.

While Tolbert said he has no doubt that Bristowe and Adams will do “good job” hosting “The Bachelorette,” he also predicted that ratings for the show would drop without Harrison.

“It’ll be interesting to see how it goes. I’m sure ratings will be down a little bit this year. … If I had to guess, I think ratings will be down because I think there will be a certain section of people that say, like, ‘I’m not watching without Chris Harrison.’ Even though that’s kind of a silly take because the show is still the show, but it’ll be interesting to see what happens moving forward,” he told the outlet.

At the time, Tobert admitted that his confidence in Harrison’s return had been dwindling. He described him as “the face of the show.” The father-of-three commented on Harrison’s goodbye post on Instagram, writing, “Won’t be the same with you!”

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