'The Bachelor' host: Kelsey Poe had condescending tone and arrogant manner, her ouster will have a ripple effect

The Bachelor host Chris Harrison agrees Kelsey Poe, whom her fellow bachelorettes thought was fake and dubbed "the black widow," made for some great TV.


"There are not a lot of sympathetic feelings toward Kelsey, and I think it's the way she carries herself and the way she speaks to people. It's such a condescending tone and arrogant manner. I know she's well educated, but the fact that she tries to show that all the time comes off cold. Even the panic attack seemed calculated," Harrison told TV Guide in an interview.

"So, this episode didn't help anything. No matter what public opinion is, the girls had enough. They were done. [Britt Nilsson] is the only one. Britt's playing a different game than everybody right now, so I don't think she minds much."

Poe embarked on the dreaded two-on-one date with Ashley Iaconetti, who hated Poe probably more than anyone else in the house. The Bachelor star Chris Soules certainly had his work cut out for him with these two emotional, drama queens.

"We haven't had a two-on-one date in a couple of seasons because it needs to make sense. This season set itself up for it. Honestly, I thought because it's hard enough to say goodbye to one of them that he would bring back one. But I wasn't even sure who. When the date just disintegrated, he was done and couldn't have gone out of Badlands fast enough. When he sold out Ashley to Kelsey that was interesting. [She was] like a high school girl running around trapped in the Bachelor mansion," Harrison explained.


Soules shockingly eliminated both women back-to-back, but gossip apparently wasn't the main reason behind his decision. He said he just wasn't feeling chemistry with Poe and Iaconetti wouldn't fit into his life on a small-town farm.

"The best part was when he told Kelsey he let Ashley go and she had this wry smile and. And he's like, 'Well, I'm breaking up with you too.' It was an unbelievable moment. I have to give it up to Ashley who said, 'I get it -- you have a masters. I do too I just don't have to use the big words you do.' I was like, 'Good for you.' I know we give Ashley a hard time, but I was impressed how she handled herself with Kelsey," Harrison told TV Guide.

"I felt like Ashley was the girl who sacrificed herself for the team. But when she walked off and came back, I was like, 'Make it stop...' There are little moments when the Bachelor or Bachelorette doesn't even know... the decision they're making on a date has a ripple effect throughout the rest of the season. This was one of them. If Kelsey had come back, it absolutely would've caused issues."

Harrison added of Poe's exit, "I've never in the history of the show seen a celebration like that when someone left. They were popping corks, dancing. It was unbelievable!"

Harrison said Soules' double elimination was "a tipping point" because it sent a message to all his remaining bachelorettes that he's very serious about finding a wife.


On another note, Becca Tilley is a virgin and has yet to disclose that information to the Bachelor this season.

"Eventually it will come up, yes," Harrison noted. "She's a sweet, wonderful girl, but is she too much of a little girl for Chris? She's nervous around him, and it's all cute and adorable, but I don't know if a 30-year-old man is looking for that. So, they might be in different places right now. He really likes her, but it will come up."

While Soules clearly had a strong connection with Tilley, his chemistry with Nilsson blew everyone out of the water. He took Nilsson to a Big & Rich concert while the rest of his bachelorettes sat in a room confused and clueless on a group date. Although Soules' behavior upset the women, Harrison insisted it's fair Nilsson got special attention and treatment because the whole purpose of the show was for Soules to fall in love -- not be polite.

"But at the same time, I felt horrible for the girls because they're having a wonderful time, feeling good about themselves and it's not just anybody. It's Britt, a constant thorn in their side. As soon as someone thinks they're doing well, Britt comes back and takes over the entire show. But she's not doing anything wrong. It's what she's supposed to do," Harrison explained.

"But I get it. And the fact that they disappeared for an hour to do the Big and Rich concert while the other girls were sitting there? It was this big balloon that popped right in front of them. I wonder if it had been, say, [Whitney Bischoff] if they would've been as upset...  With Britt, when you have an emotional relationship that's hot and heavy, it's going to explode in some way. The highs are high and the lows are super low. So, from here on out, it gets even more wild."


The Bachelor will air a special two-night event on Sunday, February 15 and Monday, February 16.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski