Emmanuel Acho will host ‘Bachelor: After the Final Rose’ following racism allegations

Former NFL football player Emmanuel Acho will step in as host of the special episode capping this season’s “The Bachelor,” after the series’ longtime host Chris Harrison temporarily stepped down after defending a contestant’s racist behavior. Television ‘The Bachelor’s’ first season with a Black lead is swept into a firestorm over race The controversy that erupted around the series this week drew in contestant Rachael Kirkconnell, host Chris Harrison and former “Bachelorette” Rachel Lindsay. Harrison defended Kirkconnell when he was asked about her delay in addressing allegations of racism in her past, including her attendance at the party, in an interview on the entertainment news program “Extra.” Harrison strongly pushed back, defending Kirkconnell and saying, “This judge-jury-executioner thing is tearing this girl’s life apart” and asked the interviewer to give Kirkconnell some “grace.” “Is it a good look in 2018, or is it not a good look in 2021?” Harrison asked “Extra” correspondent Rachel Lindsay, who was also the first ever Black female lead to star in the history of “The Bachelorette,” in the interview. “As Black people and allies immediately knew and understood, it was a clear reflection of a much larger issue that The Bachelor franchise has fallen short on addressing adequately for years.” Acho said on Saturday in an Instagram post that he was honored to host “After the Final Rose.” “It’s been one of the most storied shows in TV history,” Acho said in his Instagram post.