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- Former NFL player Emmanuel Acho will host “The Bachelor: After the Final Rose” special on March 15.
- He will replace Chris Harrison, the former host who stepped down after a controversial interview.
- Season 25, featuring Matt James, has been embroiled in racism allegations.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Emmanuel Acho will host “The Bachelor: After the Final Rose” special, replacing former host Chris Harrison who stepped aside after a controversial interview this month.
Acho, a former NFL linebacker and co-host of the Fox Sports show “Speak for Yourself,” revealed on Saturday that he would host the one-hour special on Monday, March 15, at 10 p.m. EST.
“IT’S OFFICIAL: I’ve accepted the Rose and am honored to be hosting the @bachelorabc After the Final Rose this year,” wrote Acho, 30, on Instagram.
“It’s been a pivotal season, and this episode will hopefully be one of the most storied shows in TV history,” Acho wrote. “Empathy is needed and change is coming. Share the news! I’ll see y’all then!”
The show's "pivotal" 25th season was initially celebrated for having its first Black bachelor, Matt James, but has since stumbled amid racism allegations.
Rachel Kirkconnell, an early front-runner on season 25, made headlines when a TikTok user alleged she bullied her for dating Black men. Photos later emerged of Kirkconnell attending a plantation-themed fraternity party in 2018.
In February, Harrison sat down with Rachel Lindsay, the first Black Bachelorette, for a 13-minute interview that discussed the show's controversies.
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"Well the picture was from 2018 at an Old South antebellum party, so I think, you know, that's not a good look," Lindsay said. "She's celebrating the Old South. If I went to that party, what would I represent at that party?"
Harrison attempted to defend Kirkconnell, saying Lindsay was "100% right in 2021," but claimed that it was perceived differently three years ago.
"And again, I'm not defending Rachael. I just know that, I don't know, 50 million people did that in 2018," Harrison said. "That was a type of party that a lot of people went to. We are not looking under the same lens."
Harrison faced swift criticism for defending a contestant's alleged racist behavior, and he later apologized for "speaking in a manner that perpetuates racism."
Days later, Harrison announced that he was "stepping aside" from "The Bachelor" franchise.
Acho's entrance into the Bachelor Nation comes after he made waves with his YouTube series, "Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man," which launched after George Floyd's death this summer.
In the "After the Final Rose" special, Acho is set to speak James and this season's final three women: Kirkconnell, Bri Springs, and Michelle Young.