Chris Harrison Pulls Back Curtain on Next ‘Bachelorette’ Discussions

WARNING: IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW ANY SPOILERS FROM ‘THE BACHELOR,’ DO NOT KEEP READING.

Spoilers expert Reality Steve is adamant Katie Thurston will be the next lead of The Bachelorette; however, that report has been met with nothing but denials so far. Thurston appeared to react by saying she hadn’t heard anything about the possibility. Now Chris Harrison is denying the report as well.

“I promise you this: If we named her The Bachelorette, I was not there,” Harrison said in an Extra interview with Rachel Lindsay. “We did not name her or anybody during the ‘Women Tell All’ special and, in fact, we didn’t even talk about who was the next Bachelorette at the ‘Women Tell All’ special unless they started filming in the middle of the night after I left. So as far as I know, Katie … nobody has been named the next Bachelorette. I promise you this: It will not be part of the ‘Women Tell All’ special at all.”

The clear hedging in that denial is that Harrison repeatedly mentions the “Women Tell All” special. Reality Steve initially tweeted that Thurston was announced as the next lead when they filmed the special. He later clarified that Thurston has been confirmed as The Bachelorette, but it wasn’t announced at the “Women Tell All.”

Harrison didn’t hedge in his next answer, though. He listed the other women who could be in contention for a leading role and was pretty clear about his claim that no decision has been made.

“I think we have extraordinary amount of incredible women with really diverse stories, background, history — whether it’s Abigail to the Serenas to Chelsea to Magi,” Harrison said. “There’s just a lot of stories where we start talking about this like, ‘Could we do this?’ And then of course, we always open the treasure chest of the past and ‘Is there anyone in the past who we want to bring back?’ There’s a large debate still going. Give us a little time. We never name someone this early.”

Reality Steve tweeted on Monday, February 8 that Thurston would “be named this week” as The Bachelorette.

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Katie Thurston Would Be an Unprecedented Choice

Thurston, 30, didn’t take long to make herself a fan favorite. After making a bold entry with a vibrator, Thurston earned a reputation for being the voice against bullying among contestants. She was the one who showed compassion for Sarah Trott, who drew the ire of other women for interrupting a group date. And it was Thurston who encouraged Matt James to address the toxic culture of bullying among contestants.

But Thurston was eliminated in episode six and left the show with an 11th place finish. If she becomes The Bachelorette, Thurston would be the first in the show’s history to not even finish top 10 on The Bachelor.

In fact, Hannah Brown, who finished seventh place on season 23 of The Bachelor, is the only Bachelorette lead who didn’t finish in the top four.

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