Chris Harrison Justifies Filming Arie Luyendyk Jr.’s ‘Brutal’ Breakup With Becca

Chris Harrison has something to say about Arie’s shocking decision to film his breakup with Becca. ‘The Bachelor’ host stands by the show and Arie because you can’t always ‘tell the fairytales.’

“There was no way Arie was going to do this and look great,” Chris Harrison, 46, said on Good Morning America.  “In my opinion, you don’t get to just tell the fairytales.” Chris’s response comes just hours after The Bachelor finale and Arie Luyendyk Jr.’s devastating breakup with Becca Kufrin, 27, was broadcast to millions. “That was wild,” Chris added. “Sixteen years of this and that was breathtaking. It’s going to take a little bit of time to process all of that even for myself.”

Arie received major backlash for the way he handled his split with Becca, which was revealed right after fans saw them happy and engaged. Instead of calling off their engagement in a private manner, cameras followed Arie and filmed his breakup with his then-fiancee. The unedited footage was broadcast to the world on the After the Final Rose special on March 5. He not only broke things off with Becca, he went into great detail about why. He admitted he was still in love with Lauren Burnham, 26, and wanted a second chance with her.

Some of Bachelor Nation’s biggest stars criticized showing the breakup on camera. Ben Higgins, 29, star of The Bachelor season 20, tweeted, “How did this breakup end up on camera? Seems like a private conversation. We don’t belong in this conversation….but im still watching #TheBachelor.” The Bachelorette season 11 star JoJo Fletcher, 27, tweeted, “STOP.FILMING.HER.” Sean Lowe, 34, star of The Bachelor season 20 and the only Bachelor to have ever married his original choice, tweeted something similar, “I don’t like this one bit. Shouldn’t have filmed. #thebachelor.”

The saga’s not over yet. Becca will confront Arie on the second edition of After the Final Rose. Arie and Becca haven’t spoken since he called off their engagement, so this is going to be one intense reunion. The special airs March 6 at 8 p.m. on ABC.