Harrison stepped aside from the show after a meeting with Lindsay on’Extra’

On Tuesday, the franchise’s host as 2002 affirmed he will not return into helm some of the upcoming”Bachelor” shows. The news comes after a controversy regarding racism that rocked the preceding season and watched Harrison take a step back from the show after getting backlash for an interview he did with Lindsay in the moment.

About”Extra” Tuesday, Lindsay talked with co-host Billy Bush about the situation, noting that she’s surprised that the final result of what’s Harrison stopping the job he’s done for 19 decades.

“I was not hoping for it to occur, not following the announcement,” she said (via Folks ).

Even though the racism scandal was the catalyst for Harrison stepping aside with this season of”The Bachelorette” and the upcoming”Bachelor in Paradise,” Lindsay added that she believes fans can only”speculate” about what else went into the decision not to attract Harrison back to the reality series.

“I believe a couple previous contestants coming forward and saying that they did not need him to be a part of’Paradise.’ I think Katie Thurston, her very final tweet before she went to picture her period was that Chris needed to resign,” Lindsay explained. “I think that, coupled with the meeting that occurred on this stage, possibly led to him not coming back.”

Harrison appeared “Extra” in February for a meeting with Lindsay where he grabbed backlash for defending then-“Bachelor” contestant Rachael Kirkconnell later it came to light that she’d attended an”Old South” themed celebration in 2018 in a plantation. At the time, Harrison argued that times were different 3 years ago and advocated for forgiving Kirkconnell.

“I have this unbelievable platform to talk about love, and I took a stance on topics which I must have been informed. While I don’t talk for Rachael Kirkconnell, my goals were simply to request grace in offering her an chance to speak on her behalf,” he wrote in the time.