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Former “Bachelor” and “Bachelor in Paradise” star Ashley Iaconetti spoke out about Kelly Ripa following an interaction with the new “Bachelorette” lead.
“It disappoints me when I see that Kelly Ripa has such an ax to grind with ‘The Bachelor’ franchise. Every time we have a lead go on the show to promote it, she always seems to be so skeptical of — a little bit of the lead, and their decision to be the lead — and also just the process,” Iaconetti said on the July 10 episode of the “Almost Famous” podcast.
Iaconetti, who is married to Jared Haibon, also said that Ripa “seems to really shame the show.” Her comments come after Ripa’s interview with Tran went viral.
Tran is the first Asian-American star of “The Bachelorette.” Her season premiered on July 8.
Ben Higgins & Ashley Iaconetti Defended Jenn Tran
On the July 8 episode of “Live! With Kelly and Mark,” Ripa questioned Tran about her decision to find love on television.
“You could meet anybody anywhere at any time. … Why, why?” Ripa questioned, clearly making a joke.
“I mean is Hinge any better?” Tran responded, referring to the popular dating app. She then turned the tables on Ripa and asked her where she met her husband, Mark Consuelos.
“I met my husband at work,” Ripa responded. Indeed, she and Consuelos met while working together on “All My Children.” When Tran tried to draw a comparison to meeting someone on TV, Ripa appeared to get defensive. The conversation quickly moved in a different direction.
In the days that followed, Iaconetti and former “Bachelor” lead Ben Higgins spoke about the interaction that Tran had with Ripa.
“You’re sitting there as this fan of her and the show, you’re excited to be there, you’ve gotten this wild opportunity to be on reality television and be a lead on it. And you feel like, ‘Hey, life is really fun and exciting right now,'” Higgins said on the “Almost Famous” podcast.
“I do like the way that Jenn kind of questioned her back,” Iaconetti added.
Fans Reacted to the Interaction Between Kelly Ripa & Jenn Tran
Following Tran’s appearance on “Live!,” dozens of fans took to Reddit to react. While some fans seem to think the interaction was light-hearted and all in good fun, others felt that Ripa was extremely “rude” to Tran.
“I watched this live and it was soooo cringe. Kelly was so unnecessarily rude,” one person wrote.
“They shouldn’t have the leads get interviewed by Kelly anymore – she makes no secret of the contempt she has for Bachelor contestants and it’s led to awkward interview moments for years, literally. This is not something specific to Jenn,” someone else said.
“Kelly hates the bachelor conceptually, she’s always super rude to contestants that come on her show,” a third comment read.
“So uncomfy. Jenn did a great job just rolling through the awkwardness though, my face would have had ‘what is wrong with this woman and why did they send me to be interviewed by someone who hates the show’ written alllll over it,” a fourth Redditor added.
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