Meghan McCain Slams ‘The Bachelor’ on ‘The View’: “An Extremely Problematic Show”

The hosts of The View aren’t exactly sad to see Chris Harrison go. On the latest episode of the daytime talk show, the panel discussed the news of Harrison’s exit from The Bachelor franchise after nearly 20 years, which was announced yesterday following months of controversy beginning with a disastrous Extra interview with the franchise’s first Black Bachelorette.

Meghan McCain admitted she never liked The Bachelor, apologizing to ABC (which is home to both The View and the Bachelor franchise) before diving into her critique of the now former host and the show he used to lead. “I don’t love The Bachelor,” McCain professed before  adding, “I mean no disrespect to the work that’s done on this network.”

Referencing Harrison’s infamous interview — in which he defended Bachelor contestant Rachael Kirkconnell after photos emerged of her attending an antebellum-themed party — McCain argued Harrison landed in hot water because he was “incredibly dismissive” to Rachel Lindsay, who was interviewing him.

“If there’s one thing we all have learned over the past year-and-a-half and our entire lifetime living in this country, but especially since the murder of George Floyd, is that it’s important to listen,” McCain said. “She is a Black woman talking about her experience.” She added that she “can’t believe” events like the antebellum party Kirkconnell attended “still exist.”

McCain then launched into all of the reasons why The Bachelor is “an extremely problematic show,” telling viewers, “there’s never any Asian people, there are never any Black people, there’s not a lot of Hispanic people.”

She also pointed to the lack of body diversity on the show. “If you want to talk about body positivity, there’s very rarely — I think there was one contestant one time who was over a size 0 that I now follow on Instagram,” she explained. “There’s no different bodies [or] different people. Dating is about experiencing the world.”

While Harrison is walking away from the franchise with an eight-figure payoff, McCain suggested replacing him is not nearly enough for Bachelor Nation to change its culture. “I think that show has got a lot of makeovers to do in a lot of different ways,” she said. “[It] goes way beyond the host.”

The View airs weekdays at 11/10c on ABC. Watch the full conversation from this morning’s show about Harrison’s exit in the video above.

Where to watch The View